Question

Make a risk assesment and mitigation plan if you want to make a pollution free and low carbon emission city. You may consider potential issues related to legal, ethical, technical, environmental, policy,social and economic impacts..

Answer 1

Possible risks in creating a pollution-free and low-carbon emission city :

- Economic risk : To install and maintain practices and equipment for a low emission city, there will need to be a high cost to the city and its people. Most low-emission alternatives are currently more expensive than high-emission ones and this could lead to the city have to carve out a substantial budget to be able to plan and create a city that adopts environmentally sound practices in a shorter period of time. As a lot of these practices deliver results and value but not necessary monetary value, the city could collapse under the strain of this debt.

Mitigation plan : Create a phased plan that rolls-out new practices either by districts or activity types e.g. roll out a public transport system run on clean energy across the city, or create recycling centres in different parts of the city one at a time.

- Environmental risk: As fossil fuels are increasing being replaced by other more environment-friendly alternatives, the demand for them has dropped leading to a drop in prices. These lower prices could entice some businesses/agencies/individuals that are not able to afford or do not prefer the higher prices of the alternatives. This could see an upswing in the demand and more harmful emissions being created.

Mitigation plan : Before the drop in prices makes the fossil fuels attractive to users again, similar priced alternatives need to be made available to users that provide additional incentives to usage such as tax breaks for businesses or free installation for homes.e.g. in countries where poverty levels are high, the extremely price-sensitive nature of the people can lead to a backslide where fossil fuels are again preferred due to their low price.

- Social/ethical risk : With new initiatives to clean up the environment come new types of job roles that need to be filled. However this can make older roles obsolete - oil refinery workers, coal miners etc. These groups are likely to be unable to make a quick transition into the new roles required, putting their livelihood at stake.

Mitigation plan : Along with the plan for the new roles that are needed there should be included a plan for the now defunct role workers. Trainings can be arranged for any that are able to up-skill to the new roles, for any others that are unable to do so trainings in basic crafts should be arranged to enable them to continue to make a living in the city.

- Macro-economic/policy impact risks : Along with workers being put out of work, the business ecosystem that currently exists will need to change for the new vision of the city. The new policies can put the ecosystem of suppliers, vendors, contractors, manufacturing etc. all out of sync with the new changes. This could result in drastic shortages in some areas and over-production in some leading to an economy that is out of balance and which can lead to a collapse if the change is not managed properly.

Mitigation plan : Any policy changes will need to be thoroughly reviewed and vetted to ensure they will not harm the city's business and economic ecosystem in the long run. Changes should be communicated to all affected to ensure a smoother transition. Absorbing vendors/suppliers etc. into the new changes will ensure they are able to effectively transition into their new roles. e.g. plastic bag manufactures can start manufacturing cloth bags

- Legal/technical risks - Over-dependence on any type of lower-carbon/emission policy can have extensive risks in unexpected circumstances. While it might be tempting to adopt all environment based options such as solar energy etc. there can be unexpected force majeure incidents that can disrupt the most definite and never-ending looking alternatives. As the recent pandemic has shown us, it is important to realise that having a farm does not mean you will be able to harvest it during an outbreak, which can lead to locally sourced food not being available. Choosing only local suppliers can then cause problems as you can neither allow them to work nor pay them for the non-work. If you do decide to pay them for their non-work to compensate them for their losses or if you are legally required to do so, it can then lead to losses for the city.

Mitigation plan : Technically, though one or more options might be more environmentally preferable, the city should have backup plans in the event of an unforeseen disaster. This could mean the difference between a fully functioning city during a lockdown or a completely devastated city of people who do not have access to essential goods. Disaster recovery plans should be created to anticipate as many risks as possible and every key delivery line/source should have contingencies or backups built in to allow for changes.