An expanded climate innovation agenda for cities: Tapping into the fourth industrial revolution to tackle the climate emergency

In contrast to a static problem approach, there are a growing number of initiatives with a “dynamic approach,” mainly building upon the opportunities provided by the fourth industrial revolution, but without a sustainability focus. That is why we need an expanded climate innovation agenda that encourages local governments to take “dynamic approaches” to addressing the climate emergency while simultaneously developing more opportunities for human society to flourish. A “static problem approach” also fails to leverage many opportunities that the fourth industrial revolution and digitalization can offer to help different levels of governments to respond to the climate emergency. Innovative solutions based on disruptive technologies can play a massive role in our global response to the climate emergency, but only if global sustainability and the possibility to deliver quality lives for 11 billion people are considered central and integral to those solutions.