The 2019 French Mayors and Local Authorities Fair (Salon des Maires et des Collectivités Locales 2019) was held from the 19 to the 21 November in Paris, Porte de Versailles. We visited the exhibition, and if one trend has to be recognized, it is the following: “Energy and Ecology Transition”.
This trend, aligned with the fair global theme—Sustainable Cities and Territories, 2030 Horizon—, is indeed the sign of a main stake for the French cities, in 2019, and certainly beyond. The Smart Territory project of the Angers Loire Métropole (ALM), won by a consortium leaded by ENGIE, and attributed the week before the fair, is probably emblematic of this trend: the declared main objective of ALM is to “accelerate the ecological transition of the territory” in order to allow “important energy savings “, by leveraging a city hypervision platform. In summary, A more sustainable territory, thanks to a smart city platform connected to smart urban infrastructures.
The domain of energy and ecological transition is of course now at the very core of the cities’ strategy due the climate change emergency—tragically demonstrated once again a week ago by the deadly extreme weather event that occured in the South-East of France. This domain is absolutely essential, but, from our point, it should not be the sole concern here, when it comes to cities and territories sustainability.
From a broader ESG impact perspective, we have thus developped our own proprietary Cities and Territory Impact Rating solution, which comprehend 11 impact domains. Amonst them, the ones currently raising attention, Energy and Environement, can be found, along with the territory “Connectivity” dimension (Communication, Smart Infrastructures , etc.), but also other domains we consider essential to measure the ESG Impact of a territory : Education, Governance, Security, or Healthcare, for instance.
It must be remembered that urban areas, according to the OCDE, will concentrate, by 2050, almost 70% of the wolrdwide population, whereas only 34% of this popluation was living there in 1960. The future of mankind lies indeed in the very hands of cities, which, today, concentrate also the main pollution sources and the zones the most at risk, but they also constitutes, with their billions of to-be eco-citizens, probably our best leverage to accelerate the sustainable transition of human societey—and certainly our only hope.
IMPACTIN — Sustainable impact, measured. 