Conor Riffle
The Resourceful City – This chapter looks at how to move our urban economies to circular economies that reduce reliance on landfill and prioritize conservation of resources. Old models of disposing of resources aren’t compatible with Earth’s urban future.
Conor Riffle is Senior Vice President of Smart Cities at Rubicon, a global technology company that provides waste and recycling solutions to businesses and government. In this role, he runs the company’s software business for municipal governments, RUBICONSmartCityTM. RUBICONSmartCity has been deployed in more than 55 cities, including Atlanta, Baltimore, and Kansas City. In 2020, Conor was named a “40 Under 40” award winner by Waste360 magazine.
Prior to Rubicon, Conor was based in London and served as the founding Director of Cities and Data Product Innovation at CDP, a global environmental organization. Under Conor’s leadership, CDP’s cities programme achieved global recognition as the de facto platform for city governments to report environmental data, growing to more than 500 global cities by 2016. More than 800 global cities now use CDP’s platform annually. In 2013 and again in 2017, Bloomberg Philanthropies announced major investments in CDP’s work with cities. Prior to his role at CDP, Conor served in various roles at the Clinton Foundation in New York. Conor graduated magna cum laude in History from Connecticut College and holds an MA in History of International Relations from the London School of Economics. Follow Conor on Twitter at @c_riffle. Jakob Geiger contributed essential research and support in preparation of this chapter.
Terry Tamminen and Peter Lobin
The Zero Waste City – Imagine a city without waste, where “trash” bins become sources of energy, fuels, and raw materials for products and buildings; and where we adopt exciting new technologies to cut our energy usage and bills in half, making the switch to renewables easier and faster.
From his youth in Australia to career experiences in Europe, Africa, China, and across the US, Terry Tamminen has developed expertise in business, farming, education, non-profit, the environment, the arts, and government. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed him Secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency and later Cabinet Secretary, the Chief Policy Advisor to the Governor, where Terry was the architect of many ground-breaking sustainability policies, including California’s landmark Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, the Hydrogen Highway Network, and the Million Solar Roofs initiative. In 2010 Terry co-founded the R20 Regions of Climate Action, a new public–private partnership, bringing together subnational governments, businesses, financial markets, NGOs, and academia to implement measurable, large-scale, low-carbon, and climate-resilient economic development projects that can simultaneously solve the climate crisis and build a sustainable global economy.
Terry also provides advice through 7th Generation Advisors to Pegasus Capital Advisors, the Green Climate Fund, and numerous global businesses on sustainability and “green” investing, as well as assisting governments and philanthropists with climate solutions, including Fiji, India, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation. An accomplished author, Terry’s books include Cracking the Carbon Code: The Keys to Sustainable Profits in the New Economy” (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011). In 2011, Terry was one of six finalists for the Zayed Future Energy Prize, and The Guardian ranked Terry no. 1 in its “Top 50 People Who Can Save the Planet”. For more information see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/terry_tamminen.
Peter Lobin is a globally recognized expert in the waste and recycling sector, with a deep knowledge of the efficiencies, technologies, and human behaviour that drive sustainable economic growth. With a 30-year track record serving multiple waste and recycling firms, private equity investors, foundations, NGOs, and advocacy groups, he has developed innovative programmes that reduce cost, expand markets, create new opportunities, and increase revenues throughout North America, the Middle East, North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, South America, and Asia. Peter is currently Managing Director of ZeroWaste Global LLC (ZWG), an international management-consulting firm focused on zero waste solutions; a partner at Scarab Technology, LLC, a disabled-veteran-owned waste service and recycling management consultancy focused on federal and state governments; and Managing Partner at Fiber Innovation Technologies, the leader in residual management for pulp and paper mills. He holds a BS and MA in International Relations from the University of Southern California and is proficient in Spanish, having lived in South America.
Sarah Wray and Richard Forster
The Resilient City – A resilient city is one that embraces a holistic strategy that puts resilience at the heart of investment.
Sarah Wray leads the editorial team at Cities Today and specializes in writing about the impact of technology on cities, particularly with regard to the use of data, digitalization, and transport innovation, with a focus on climate action, citizen engagement, and the delivery of equitable municipal services. She was previously part of the TM Forum team where she was the editor of Inform, a research and content hub for the telecom industry. She was editor of Smart Cities World before joining Cities Today and has written for publications including Smart Cities Dive, Mobile World Live, Mobile Europe, and Computer Weekly, covering topics such as the Internet of Things, smart cities, 5 G, and blockchain.
Richard Forster has been an editor and journalist for over 20 years, having trained at Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC. He has written for the Financial Times, Euromoney, International Financial Law review (IFLR), and Project Finance Institute, and has launched publications for the Inter-American Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, and UN-Habitat. He is Editor-in-Chief at PFD Publications, which launched Cities Today in 2010 as the first global magazine for decision-makers in urban development. He has edited publications for UN-Habitat, United Cities and Local Governments Asia-Pacific, and the Latin American Federation of Cities, Municipalities and Associations of Local Governments. He is CEO of the Cities Today Institute, which provides training, forums, and research for a network of city leaders, focusing on digital transformation, transport, and sustainability.
John de Boer
The Fragile City – A fragile city recognizes growing inequalities in the face of extreme events and how it can build resilient systems to function and thrive.
John de Boer is a thought leader who combines experience in business, government, academia, and international organizations to develop solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges. John is currently Senior Director at BlackBerry, a global leader in intelligent security solutions, where