How to develop a Sustainable Energy Access and Climate Action Plan (SEACAP) in Sub-Saharan Africa

The Covenant of Mayors in Sub-Saharan Africa (CoM SSA) supports local authorities in Sub-Saharan Africa in the climate challenge and in their efforts in ensuring access to clean energy. It is the "regional covenant" of the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy (GCoM). Under the CoM SSA, local authorities are invited to make a voluntarily political commitment to implement climate and energy actions in their communities and agree on a long-term vision to tackle 3 pillars, namely access to energy, climate mitigation and climate adaptation. In order to translate the political commitment into practical measures, CoM SSA signatories commit to elaborating and implementing a Sustainable Energy Access and Climate Action Plan (SEACAP). This document has been prepared to assist Sub-Saharan Africa local authorities in preparing a Climate Action Plan. This document is part of the guiding materials developed to assist local governments in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) in preparing a climate action plan. The full set of guiding materials consists of: - "Guidebook: How to develop a Sustainable Energy Access and Climate Action Plan (SEACAP) in Sub-Saharan Africa" - Extended version; - Summary of the "Guidebook: How to develop a Sustainable Energy Access and Climate Action Plan (SEACAP) in Sub-Saharan Africa"; - "How to develop a SEACAP in Sub-Saharan Africa: short starting guide". It provides step-by-step guidance and examples of measures relevant for local authorities in Sub Saharan context.JRC.C.2-Energy Efficiency and Renewable

The Future of Cities

This report is an initiative of the Joint Research Centre (JRC), the science and knowledge service of the European Commission (EC), and supported by the Commission's Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy (DG REGIO). It highlights drivers shaping the urban future, identifying both the key challenges cities will have to address and the strengths they can capitalise on to proactively build their desired futures. The main aim of this report is to raise open questions and steer discussions on what the future of cities can, and should be, both within the science and policymaker communities. While addressing mainly European cities, examples from other world regions are also given since many challenges and solutions have a global relevance. The report is particularly novel in two ways. First, it was developed in an inclusive manner – close collaboration with the EC’s Community of Practice on Cities (CoP-CITIES) provided insights from the broader research community and city networks, including individual municipalities, as well as Commission services and international organisations. It was also extensively reviewed by an Editorial Board. Secondly, the report is supported by an online ‘living’ platform which will host future updates, including additional analyses, discussions, case studies, comments and interactive maps that go beyond the scope of the current version of the report. Steered by the JRC, the platform will offer a permanent virtual space to the research, practice and policymaking community for sharing and accumulating knowledge on the future of cities. This report is produced in the framework of the EC Knowledge Centre for Territorial Policies and is part of a wider series of flagship Science for Policy reports by the JRC, investigating future perspectives concerning Artificial Intelligence, the Future of Road Transport, Resilience, Cybersecurity and Fairness Interactive online platform : https://urban.jrc.ec.europa.eu/thefutureofcitiesJRC.B.3-Territorial Developmen

Assessing climate justice awareness among climate neutral-to-be cities

Abstract This paper sheds light on the importance of evaluating climate justice concerns when forging climate-neutral strategies at the city level. Climate justice can be a useful policy lever to develop measures that promote simultaneously greenhouse gas emissions reductions and their social justice dimension, thus reducing the risk of adverse impacts. As a result, evaluating policymakers’ awareness of (i) recognition (ii) distributive (iii) procedural, and (iv) intergenerational issues about the transition to climate neutrality might help identify where to intervene to ensure that decisions towards more sustainable urban futures are born justly and equitably. This study uses data from the European Mission on 100 Climate Neutral and Smart Cities by 2030 and a principal component analysis to build an index of climate justice awareness. It then identifies control factors behind different levels of climate justice awareness. The empirical analysis suggests that the more cities are engaged in climate efforts, the more they implement these efforts considering also the social justice dimension. It also reveals that the geographical location and the relationship with higher levels of governance contribute to shape the heterogeneity in a just-considerate climate action by virtue of different governance structures, historical legacies, and economic, cultural, and political characteristics. Overall, the analysis unveils that the availability of governmental support in capacity building and financial advisory services, and the breadth of the city’s legal powers across different fields of action are positively related to justice awareness. Conversely, the perception of favourable geo-climatic conditions is negatively correlated. These relationships can be read as assistance needs that cities perceive in their pathway to just climate neutrality and highlight where future efforts in research and policy-making should focus in the following years to pave the way to a just transition

Zwei Alpentäler im Klimawandel

Die Geschichte der Veränderungen im Mölltal und in der Rauris stehen im Mittelpunkt des Buchs "Zwei Alpentäler im Klimawandel“. Sie beginnt in der Vorvorvergangenheit, lange bevor der Mensch seinen Einfluss auf Klima und Landschaft geltend machen konnte, und endet in der Zukunft. Der Mensch hat die Mitregentschaft über Klima und Umwelt übernommen, er hat nun die Verantwortung zu tragen und vernünftige Maßnahmen zu setzen, damit das Klima nicht aus der Bahn gerät. Gleichzeitig hat er Vorkehrungen gegenüber etwaigen negativen Folgen einer Änderung zu treffen. Dazu ist es notwendig, Wechselwirkungen zwischen Klima, Landschaft und Wirtschaft umfassend zu verstehen und lokal- und regionalspezifische Herausforderungen zu erkennen

Zwei Alpentäler im Klimawandel

Die Geschichte der Veränderungen im Mölltal und in der Rauris stehen im Mittelpunkt des Buchs "Zwei Alpentäler im Klimawandel“. Sie beginnt in der Vorvorvergangenheit, lange bevor der Mensch seinen Einfluss auf Klima und Landschaft geltend machen konnte, und endet in der Zukunft. Der Mensch hat die Mitregentschaft über Klima und Umwelt übernommen, er hat nun die Verantwortung zu tragen und vernünftige Maßnahmen zu setzen, damit das Klima nicht aus der Bahn gerät. Gleichzeitig hat er Vorkehrungen gegenüber etwaigen negativen Folgen einer Änderung zu treffen. Dazu ist es notwendig, Wechselwirkungen zwischen Klima, Landschaft und Wirtschaft umfassend zu verstehen und lokal- und regionalspezifische Herausforderungen zu erkennen