The Climate Question How to build a climate friendly city
Jul 5, 2026
Rogier van den Berg, architect and urban planner focused on low-carbon city design. Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, Mayor of Freetown and C40 co-chair driving urban resilience and tree-planting. They talk about redesigning streets for walkability and public transport. They explore nature-based solutions, retrofitting buildings for cooling, managing water and informal settlements, and shifting transport and fuel choices.
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Freetown's Geography Drives Climate Vulnerability
- Freetown sits between the Atlantic, beaches and a mountain range that used to be green and full of streams.
- Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr describes population doubling and rural migrants driven by climate impacts on farming, increasing city pressure and vulnerability.
Four Urban Sources Produce Most City Emissions
- Major urban greenhouse gases come mainly from buildings, transport, materials and waste.
- Rogier van den Berg highlights building energy for heating/cooling, combustion in transport, and methane from waste as the four city sources.
Freetown's Million Tree Program Scales With Carbon Offsets
- Freetown planted 1.2 million trees to stabilize slopes, protect catchments and mangroves and now targets 4 million by 2028.
- Yvonne says the city is pursuing carbon market accreditation to fund more planting via offsets.