On October 16th, Prof. Carlo Carraro, ICCG Director and President of the University Ca’ Foscari of Venice, flew to New York to award the NYC Mayor, Mr. Bloomberg, for the NYC Initiative for Rebuilding and Resiliency. The Initiative is the winner of the 2013 ICCG Best Climate Practices Award for “Climate Change and Urban Resilience. How to prepare our cities to respond to climate change related challenges”, a contest launched within the activities of the ICCG Best Climate Practices observatory.

The Special Initiative for Rebuilding and Resiliency aims to transform the city into a highly resilient urban space with respect to all expected climate impacts and in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Specifically, the plan aims:

• to improve citywide infrastructure and building resilience in the medium and long term; and
• to rebuild locally in order to help Sandy-impacted communities become more resilient.
  The Initiative represents the effort of the Bloomberg Administration to accommodate a growing population, enhance the quality of life for all New Yorkers, and address climate change. Among the goals, the plan includes reducing the city’s GHG emissions by more than 30 percent by 2030 and 126 other initiatives.

“With this Initiative, the Bloomberg Administration proved to understand New York’s climate risks and showed a willing to act concretely to face this challenge” said Prof. Carraro during the award ceremony. The ICCG awarded the Initiative with a sculpture made of artistic glass from Murano, handcrafted by the famous Venetian Murano Glass Master Simone Cenedese.

The project has been selected by internationally well known experts that have been working for many years on measures to mitigate and adapt to climate change: Professor Anthony Bigio (George Washington University, previously for many years at the World Bank), Dr. Raffaello Cervigni (The World Bank), Dr. Jan Corfee-Morlot (OECD), Prof. Robert H. Socolow (Princeton University) and Prof. Carlo Carraro (International Center for Climate Governance and Ca’ Foscari University of Venice).

Visit the Best Climate Practices observatory website
Watch the photos of the award ceremony on the ICCG Facebook Page
For more information, please e-mail: [email protected]