Assessing climate action for the health of the people and the planet
Abstract Overview
Background: Cities are a major source of greenhouse gas emissions and urban populations face catastrophic, escalating health and economic impacts from climate change. Globally, cities have been developing and implementing Climate Action Plans (CAPs) with the stated goal of making emission cuts. Though such plans have the potential to produce large effects, to date, these initiatives have noticeably failed to yield substantial progress. Research that could evaluate and improve CAPs is in its infancy, held back by the lack of rigorous, realistic methods for assessing the content and quality of these plans.
Purpose: This project provides a solution by developing a novel transdisciplinary methodology to systematically evaluate CAPs integrating environmental, economic, social, health, and behavioural sciences.
Methods: The proposed methodology is based on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) analyses and recommendations and uses quantitative policy analysis.
Results: Our preliminary review of CAPs underscores that despite common and strong rhetoric expressing commitment to addressing climate change, there is a lack of actionable policy measures. There is a substantial knowledge gap and misalignment between CAP components, priority areas, and detailed steps for meeting and tracking emission reduction targets. While some CAPs are presented as aspirational documents, others consist of interconnected plans with clear, specific, measurable, and budgeted actions and targets.
Implications: An overwhelming majority of cities are formulating CAPs in a fragmented, piecemeal manner. This comparative analysis of CAPs provides valuable insights into cities’ capacity to enact and implement effective climate policies. This lays the groundwork for understanding diversity and patterns in existing CAP language and policies, informing future impact assessments of CAPs.
Funding: This project is supported by the TU Delft Climate Action Programme and a Dutch Research Council Open Science Award.
Additional Authors
Name: Alexandra Heaney
Affiliation: University of California San Diego, San Diego, USA
Presenting Author: no
Name: James Sallis
Affiliation: University of California San Diego, San Diego, USA
Presenting Author: no
Name: Marjolein van Esch
Affiliation: Technische Universiteit Delft, The Netherlands
Presenting Author: no
Name: Jacob Carson
Affiliation: University of California San Diego, San Diego, USA
Presenting Author: no
Name: Brianna Cole
Affiliation: Technische Universiteit Delft, The Netherlands
Presenting Author: no
Information
Study Type: Policy (e.g. policy or guideline development)
Subtheme: Co-benefits/ non-health benefits/ SDGs
Population Group: Not Applicable
Setting: Whole System
Submitting Author
Deepti Adlakha
Associate Professor
Delft University of Technology (TU Delft)
Netherlands