RT Journal Article
T1 Will climate mitigation ambitions lead to carbon neutrality? An analysis of the local-level plans of 327 cities in the EU
A1 Salvia, Monica
A1 Reckien, Diana
A1 Pietrapertosa, Filomena
A1 Eckersley, Peter
A1 Spyridaki, Niki Artemis
A1 Krook-Riekkola, Anna
A1 Olazabal, Marta
A1 De Gregorio Hurtado, Sonia
A1 Simoes, Sofia G.
A1 Geneletti, Davide
A1 Viguié, Vincent
A1 Fokaides, Paris A.
A1 Ioannou, Byron I.
A1 Flamos, Alexandros
A1 Csete, Maria Szalmane
A1 Buzasi, Attila
A1 Orru, Hans
A1 de Boer, Cheryl
A1 Foley, Aoife
A1 Rižnar, Klavdija
A1 Matosović, Marko
A1 Balzan, Mario V.
A1 Smigaj, Magdalena
A1 Baštáková, Viera
A1 Streberova, Eva
A1 Šel, Nataša Belšak
A1 Coste, Lana
A1 Tardieu, Léa
A1 Altenburg, Corinna
A1 Lorencová, Eliska Krkoška
A1 Orru, Kati
A1 Wejs, Anja
A1 Feliu, Efren
A1 Church, Jon Marco
A1 Grafakos, Stelios
A1 Vasilie, Sergiu
A1 Paspaldzhiev, Ivan
A1 Heidrich, Oliver
AB Cities across the globe recognise their role in climate mitigation and are acting to reduce carbon emissions. Knowing whether cities set ambitious climate and energy targets is critical for determining their contribution towards the global 1.5 °C target, partly because it helps to identify areas where further action is necessary. This paper presents a comparative analysis of the mitigation targets of 327 European cities, as declared in their local climate plans. The sample encompasses over 25% of the EU population and includes cities of all sizes across all Member States, plus the UK. The study analyses whether the type of plan, city size, membership of climate networks, and its regional location are associated with different levels of mitigation ambition. Results reveal that 78% of the cities have a GHG emissions reduction target. However, with an average target of 47%, European cities are not on track to reach the Paris Agreement: they need to roughly double their ambitions and efforts. Some cities are ambitious, e.g. 25% of our sample (81) aim to reach carbon neutrality, with the earliest target date being 2020.90% of these cities are members of the Climate Alliance and 75% of the Covenant of Mayors. City size is the strongest predictor for carbon neutrality, whilst climate network(s) membership, combining adaptation and mitigation into a single strategy, and local motivation also play a role. The methods, data, results and analysis of this study can serve as a reference and baseline for tracking climate mitigation ambitions across European and global cities.
SN 1364-0321
YR 2021
FD 2021-01
LK https://hdl.handle.net/11556/4553
UL https://hdl.handle.net/11556/4553
LA eng
NO Salvia , M , Reckien , D , Pietrapertosa , F , Eckersley , P , Spyridaki , N A , Krook-Riekkola , A , Olazabal , M , De Gregorio Hurtado , S , Simoes , S G , Geneletti , D , Viguié , V , Fokaides , P A , Ioannou , B I , Flamos , A , Csete , M S , Buzasi , A , Orru , H , de Boer , C , Foley , A , Rižnar , K , Matosović , M , Balzan , M V , Smigaj , M , Baštáková , V , Streberova , E , Šel , N B , Coste , L , Tardieu , L , Altenburg , C , Lorencová , E K , Orru , K , Wejs , A , Feliu , E , Church , J M , Grafakos , S , Vasilie , S , Paspaldzhiev , I & Heidrich , O 2021 , ' Will climate mitigation ambitions lead to carbon neutrality? An analysis of the local-level plans of 327 cities in the EU ' , Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews , vol. 135 , 110253 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2020.110253
NO Publisher Copyright: © 2020 Elsevier Ltd
NO MO's work is funded by AXA Research Fund (No. 4771 ), by the Spanish Government ( IJCI-2016-28,835 and MDM-2017-0714 ) and by the Basque Government ( BERC 2018–2021 program). OH was funded by the EC project RAMSES Reconciling Adaptation, Mitigation and Sustainable Development for Cities (contract Ref 308,497 ) and the EPSRC project LC Transforms: Low Carbon Transitions of Fleet Operations in Metropolitan Sites Project ( EP/N010612/1 ). MO's work is funded by AXA Research Fund (No. 4771), by the Spanish Government (IJCI-2016-28,835 and MDM-2017-0714) and by the Basque Government (BERC 2018–2021 program). OH was funded by the EC project RAMSES Reconciling Adaptation, Mitigation and Sustainable Development for Cities (contract Ref 308,497) and the EPSRC project LC Transforms: Low Carbon Transitions of Fleet Operations in Metropolitan Sites Project (EP/N010612/1).We thank council representatives and local technicians that supported the data collection. We also thank the EU COST Action TU0902 (led by Richard Dawson) that established the core research network and the positive engagement and interaction of the members of this extended group. The paper reflects only the views of the authors. The European Union, the European Environment Agency or other supporting bodies are not liable for any use that may be made of the information that is provided in this manuscript.
DS TECNALIA Publications
RD 26 jul 2024