Urban Exchange Podcast Episode 9 - Susan Aitken, Glasgow City Leader - Progress at COP27 and climate finance

Urban Exchange: Cities on the Frontlines

The Urban Exchange welcomes back Glasgow City Council leader, Susan Aitken, to talk Cop27 and climate finance.

The latest episode of the Urban Exchange Podcast sees Resilient Cities Network’s Lauren Sorkin in conversation with Glasgow City Council leader, Susan Aitken, to uncover some of the key takeaways from Cop27, how the conference compared to Cop26, and the critical role of finance in climate action.

We begin with Susan’s thoughts on how Cop27 compared in terms of its outcomes to the Glasgow-hosted Cop26 in 2021, as she explains the various ways in which the conference moved the dial on climate action in some ways, yet fell short in others. Susan also explains why every new edition of Cop now needs to represent a defining moment in climate action, such is the urgency required to combat the changing climate.

There’s also discussion of the types of systems and infrastructure that cities require as they redouble their efforts on climate action, with Susan going into detail about how Glasgow’s green deal sets out to achieve these changes. Here, she discusses the importance of having a plan in the first place to be able to better communicate intentions with citizens, and also with investors.

Following on from this, Susan goes into detail about the disruptive economic impacts of the climate crisis without adequate action and the need to investors and private sector to get on board with what cities are trying to achieve, and how they themselves will be reliant on this to become resilient themselves, as well as making their city more resilient in turn.

With this in mind, Susan explains the latest steps that the city of Glasgow has taken to achieve some of these goals, such as the appointment of a new Green Economy Manager, and shares some of the successes the city has had that others might be able to take with them on their own climate action journeys.