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- Adaptation to climate change in cities of Mediterranean EuropePublication . Pietrapertosa, Filomena; Olazabal, Marta; Simoes, Sofia; Salvia, Monica; Fokaides, Paris; Ioannou, Byron I.; Viguie, Vincent; Spyridaki, Niki-Artemis; Hurtado, Sonia De Gregorio; Geneletti, Davide; Heidrich, Oliver; Tardieu, Léa; Feliu, Efren; Rižnar, Klavdija; Matosović, Marko; Balzan, Mario V.; Flamos, Alexandros; Sel, Natasa Belsak; Reckien, DianaABSTRACT: Cities across Mediterranean Europe face common climatic threats. They are highly vulnerable and very likely to suffer losses and damages due to heat waves, droughts, wildfires, landslides, and extreme coastal events. To this date, however, there is no systematic understanding of how cities in Mediterranean Europe are preparing to adapt to these impacts. To address this question, we analyse local adaptation plans in 73 cities located in 51 regions across 9 European countries along the Mediterranean Sea (France, Italy, Spain, Greece, Portugal, Croatia, Slovenia, Cyprus and Malta). We also investigate upper levels of planning to understand the influence of policy environments. Across the sample, 67 % of regions have adopted a plan, but only 30 % of the cities. The most common climate-related hazards these cities prepare for are extreme temperatures and rainfall, followed by drought and water scarcity, as well as floods and landslides. Without legal obligations, neither regional nor national adaptation policy frameworks seem to influence the development of urban plans. In some cases, cities are ahead of national policy. This paper sheds light on the progress of local adaptation planning in Mediterranean Europe and paves the way for further research in this climate-threatened geographical area.
- Climate mitigation in the Mediterranean Europe: An assessment of regional and city-level plansPublication . Salvia, Monica; Olazabal, Marta; Fokaides, Paris; Tardieu, Léa; Simoes, Sofia; Geneletti, Davide; de Gregorio Hurtado, Sonia; Viguie, Vincent; Spyridaki, Niki-Artemis; Pietrapertosa, Filomena; Ioannou, Byron I.; Matosović, Marko; Flamos, Alexandros; Balzan, Mario V.; Feliu, Efren; Rižnar, Klavdija; Belšak Šel, Nataša; Heidrich, Oliver; Reckien, DianaIn Europe, regions in the Mediterranean area share common characteristics in terms of high sensitivity to climate change impacts. Does this translate into specificities regarding climate action that could arise from these Mediterranean characteristics? This paper sheds light on regional and local climate mitigation actions of the Mediterranean Europe, focusing on the plans to reduce greenhouse gases emissions in a representative sample of 51 regions and 73 cities across 9 Mediterranean countries (Croatia, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain). The study investigates: (i) the availability of local and regional mitigation plans, (ii) their goals in term of greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets on the short and medium-long term, and (iii) the impact of transnational climate networks on such local and regional climate mitigation planning. Results of this study indicate an uneven and fragmented planning, that shows a Mediterranean West-East divide, and a link with population size. However, overall, both regional and city action seem insufficiently ambitious with regards to meeting the Paris Agreement, at least at city level. While national frameworks are currently weak in influencing regional and local actions, transnational networks seem to be engaging factors for commitment (at city level) and ambitiousness (at regional level). The uneven and fragmented progress revealed by this study, does not align with the characteristics shared by investigated regions and cities in terms of environmental, socio-political, climatic and economic conditions. The results support the call of a common green deal at the Mediterranean level to further address specific Mediterranean challenges and related needs. This will allow to capitalise on available resources, generate local-specific knowledge, build capacities, and support Mediterranean regions and cities in preparing the next generation of more ambitious mitigation plans.
- State of play of local adaptation planning in the Mediterranean EuropePublication . Pietrapertosa, Filomena; Salvia, Monica; Simoes, Sofia; Geneletti, Davide; Olazabal, Marta; Hurtado, Sonia De Gregorio; Heidrich, Oliver; Fokaides, Paris; Ioannou, Byron I.; Tardieu, Léa; Spyridaki, Niki-Artemis; Flamos, Alexandros; Rižnar, Klavdija; Šel, Nataša Belšak; Feliu, Efren; Matosović, Marko; Balzan, Mario V.; Viguie, Vincent; Reckien, DianaABSTRACT: European cities across the Mediterranean region face common climatic threats. Urbanised areas are highly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change, including climate variability and climate extremes. Cities concentrate population and assets, and losses and damages as a result of climate change impacts such as heat waves, droughts, wildfires, landslides, coastal hazards are likely. So far, however, there is no systematic understanding how cities in the Mediterranean Europe are preparing to adapt to these impacts, nor of how they aim to increase their resilience and adaptive capacity. Understanding how cities plan to manage climatic risks will help to identify action gaps, allocate resources and provides better-informed climate policy, at local, regional national and international scale. This research gathered and analysed adaptation planning documents in a representative sample of 73 cities across 9 Mediterranean European countries (France, Italy, Spain, Greece, Portugal, Croatia, Slovenia, Cyprus and Malta) in the context of their national policies. The results and this paper shed important light on the progress of adaptation planning, by focusing on identified impacts and proposed adaptation measures.
- Quality of urban climate adaptation plans over timePublication . Reckien, Diana; Buzási, Attila; Olazabal, Marta; Spyridaki, Niki-Artemis; Eckersley, Peter; Simoes, Sofia; Salvia, Monica; Pietrapertosa, Filomena; Fokaides, Paris; Goonesekera, Sascha M.; Tardieu, Léa; Balzan, Mario V.; de Boer, Cheryl L.; Hurtado, Sonia De Gregorio; Feliu, Efren; Flamos, Alexandros; Foley, Aoife; Geneletti, Davide; Grafakos, Stelios; Heidrich, Oliver; Ioannou, Byron I.; Krook-Riekkola, Anna; Matosović, Marko; Orru, Hans; Orru, Kati; Paspaldzhiev, Ivan; Rižnar, Klavdija; Smigaj, Magdalena; Csete, Mária; Viguie, Vincent; Wejs, AnjaABSTRACT: Defining and measuring progress in adaptation are important questions for climate adaptation science, policy, and practice. Here, we assess the progress of urban adaptation planning in 327 European cities between 2005 and 2020 using three 'ADAptation plan Quality Assessment' indices, called ADAQA-1/ 2/ 3, that combine six plan quality principles. Half of the cities have an adaptation plan and its quality significantly increased over time. However, generally, plan quality is still low in many cities. Participation and monitoring and evaluation are particularly weak aspects in urban adaptation policy, together with plan 'consistency'. Consistency connects impacts and vulnerabilities with adaptation goals, planned measures, actions, monitoring and evaluation, and participation processes. Consistency is a key factor in the overall quality of plans. To help evaluate the quality of plans and policies and promote learning, we suggest incorporating our ADAptation plan Quality Assessment indices into the portfolio of adaptation progress assessments and tracking methodologies.
- Will climate mitigation ambitions lead to carbon neutrality? An analysis of the local-level plans of 327 cities in the EUPublication . Salvia, Monica; Reckien, Diana; Pietrapertosa, Filomena; Eckersley, Peter; Spyridaki, Niki-Artemis; Krook-Riekkola, Anna; Olazabal, Marta; Hurtado, Sonia De Gregorio; Simoes, Sofia; Geneletti, Davide; Viguie, Vincent; Fokaides, Paris; Ioannou, Byron I.; Flamos, Alexandros; Csete, Mária; Buzási, Attila; Orru, Hans; Boer, Cheryl de; Foley, Aoife; Rižnar, Klavdija; Matosović, Marko; Balzan, Mario V.; Smigaj, Magdalena; Baštáková, Viera; Streberova, Eva; Šel, Nataša Belšak; Coste, Lana; Tardieu, Léa; Altenburg, Corinna; Lorencová, Eliska Krkoška; Orru, Kati; Wejs, Anja; Feliu, Efren; Church, Jon Marco; Grafakos, Stelios; Vasilie, Sergiu; Paspaldzhiev, Ivan; Heidrich, OliverABSTRACT: 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.