Will climate mitigation ambitions lead to carbon neutrality? An analysis of the local-level plans of 327 cities in the EU

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

Solubility of carnosic acid and carnosol from rosemary extract in supercritical CO2CO_2

Rosemary leaves extract are known to have significant antioxidant properties and are widely used in foods and nutritional supplements. Compounds responsible for these antioxidant properties are mainly the phenolic diterpenes. The major phenolic diterpenes are carnosic acid and carnosol. Much interest has been focused on the isolation of carnosic acid, due to its wide spectrum of actions and beneficial effects on human health. In this work a natural rosemary extract, containing 73.9% carnosic acid and 14.7% carnosol, was investigated regarding the solubility of carnosic acid and carnosol in supercritical $CO_2$. The solubility measurements, using a static-analytic method, were performed at temperatures 40, 60 and 80 °C and at pressures ranging from 98 to 402 bar. The Chrastil model was used to correlate the obtained experimental solubility data.Rožmarinov ekstrakt je poznan kot pomemben antioksidant, ki se pogosto uporablja v prehrambeni industriji. Glavne komponente, ki mu dajejo antioksidativne lastnosti, so diterepski fenoli, med katerima sta najpomembnejša karnozolna kislina in karnozol. Veliko raziskav je osredotočenih na izolacijo karnozolne kisline, predvsem zaradi njenega širokega spektra delovanja in ugodnih učinkov na človeško zdravje. Namen raziskav je bil določiti topnosti karnozolne kisline in karnozola v superkritičnem $CO_2$. Za raziskave smo uporabili rožmarinov ekstrakt s 73.9 % karnozolne kisline in 14.7 % karnozola. Topnosti smo določili pri temperaturah 40, 60 in 80 °C in v tlačnem območju od 98 do 402 bar z uporabo statične analitične metode. Podatke ravnotežnih topnosti smo nato korelirali z empiričnim modelom po Chrastil-u

Climate mitigation in the Mediterranean Europe: An assessment of regional and city-level plans

International audienceIn 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 Europe

ABSTRACT: 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.N/

Will climate mitigation ambitions lead to carbon neutrality? An analysis of the local-level plans of 327 cities in the EU

ABSTRACT: 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.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio