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How are Italian and Spanish cities tackling climate change? A local comparative study

Author

Listed:
  • Marta Olazabal
  • Sonia De Gregorio Hurtado
  • Eduardo Olazabal
  • Filomena Pietrapertosa
  • Monica Salvia
  • Davide Geneletti
  • Valentina D?Alonzo
  • Efrén Feliú
  • Senatro Di Leo
  • Diana Reckien

Abstract

Cities are widely recognised as being pivotal to fight climate change. They magnify the drivers of climate change, experience the impacts and also concentrate the highest room for action. Although urban areas are broadly claimed to be climate leaders, there is no archetype of right actions given the highly contextual differences among them. Yet, the how and why cities respond to global environmental challenges in the context of increasingly competitive economies needs further research. In this paper we aim at advancing in this regard by assessing the state of the art on urban climate actions in two European Mediterranean Countries: Spain and Italy that face similar climate change challenges. Based on an extensive review of documents, we analyse mitigation and adaptation plans of 26 Spanish and 32 Italian Urban Audit cities, as representative samples. Our results show relevant differences between Spanish and Italian cities in terms of the starting time of their climate actions as well their implementation. We concur with existing literature in that mitigation is more advanced than adaptation actions and take evidence in both countries and we also demonstrate that international and national networking initiatives are being instrumental in engaging cities in climate action.

Suggested Citation

  • Marta Olazabal & Sonia De Gregorio Hurtado & Eduardo Olazabal & Filomena Pietrapertosa & Monica Salvia & Davide Geneletti & Valentina D?Alonzo & Efrén Feliú & Senatro Di Leo & Diana Reckien, 2014. "How are Italian and Spanish cities tackling climate change? A local comparative study," Working Papers 2014-03, BC3.
  • Handle: RePEc:bcc:wpaper:2014-03
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. D. Reckien & J. Flacke & R. Dawson & O. Heidrich & M. Olazabal & A. Foley & J. Hamann & H. Orru & M. Salvia & S. Gregorio Hurtado & D. Geneletti & F. Pietrapertosa, 2014. "Climate change response in Europe: what’s the reality? Analysis of adaptation and mitigation plans from 200 urban areas in 11 countries," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 122(1), pages 331-340, January.
    2. Thomas G Measham & Benjamin L Preston & Cassandra Brooke & Tim F Smith & Craig Morrison & Geoff Withycombe & Russell Gorddard, 2010. "Adapting to Climate Change Through Local Municipal Planning: Barriers and Opportunities," Socio-Economics and the Environment in Discussion (SEED) Working Paper Series 2010-05, CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems.
    3. Thomas Measham & Benjamin Preston & Timothy Smith & Cassandra Brooke & Russell Gorddard & Geoff Withycombe & Craig Morrison, 2011. "Adapting to climate change through local municipal planning: barriers and challenges," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 16(8), pages 889-909, December.
    4. Sonia De Gregorio Hurtado & Marta Olazabal & Monica Salvia & Filomena Pietrapertosa & Eduardo Olazabal & Davide Geneletti & Valentina D?Alonzo & Efrén Feliú & Senatro Di Leo & Diana Reckien, 2014. "Implications of governance structures on urban climate action: evidence from Italy and Spain," Working Papers 2014-02, BC3.
    5. Marta Olazabal & Unai Pascual, 2013. "Identifying social determinants of urban low carbon transitions: the case of energy transition in Bilbao, Basque Country," Working Papers 2013-11, BC3.
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    Cited by:

    1. Josué M. Polanco-Martínez & Sérgio H. Faria, 2014. "Hunting spectro-temporal information in unevenly spaced paleoclimate time series," Working Papers 2014-07, BC3.
    2. Antje Otto & Kristine Kern & Wolfgang Haupt & Peter Eckersley & Annegret H. Thieken, 2021. "Ranking local climate policy: assessing the mitigation and adaptation activities of 104 German cities," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 167(1), pages 1-23, July.
    3. Pablo Martinez-Juarez & Aline Chiabai & Sonia Quiroga Gómez & Tim Taylor, 2015. "Ecosystems and human health: towards a conceptual framework for assessing the co-benefits of climate change adaptation," Working Papers 2015-01, BC3.
    4. Antje Otto & Christian Göpfert & Annegret H. Thieken, 2021. "Are cities prepared for climate change? An analysis of adaptation readiness in 104 German cities," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 26(8), pages 1-25, December.
    5. Salvia, Monica & Reckien, Diana & Pietrapertosa, Filomena & Eckersley, Peter & Spyridaki, Niki-Artemis & Krook-Riekkola, Anna & Olazabal, Marta & De Gregorio Hurtado, Sonia & Simoes, Sofia G. & Genele, 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, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    6. Pietrapertosa, Filomena & Khokhlov, Valeriy & Salvia, Monica & Cosmi, Carmelina, 2018. "Climate change adaptation policies and plans: A survey in 11 South East European countries," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 81(P2), pages 3041-3050.
    7. Reckien, D. & Salvia, M. & Pietrapertosa, F. & Simoes, S.G. & Olazabal, M. & De Gregorio Hurtado, S. & Geneletti, D. & Krkoška Lorencová, E. & D'Alonzo, V. & Krook-Riekkola, A. & Fokaides, P.A. & Ioan, 2019. "Dedicated versus mainstreaming approaches in local climate plans in Europe," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 948-959.
    8. Diana Reckien & Johannes Flacke & Marta Olazabal & Oliver Heidrich, 2015. "The Influence of Drivers and Barriers on Urban Adaptation and Mitigation Plans—An Empirical Analysis of European Cities," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(8), pages 1-21, August.
    9. Pablo-Romero, María del P. & Pozo-Barajas, Rafael & Sánchez-Braza, Antonio, 2016. "Analyzing the effects of Energy Action Plans on electricity consumption in Covenant of Mayors signatory municipalities in Andalusia," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 12-26.

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    Keywords

    urban climate action; mitigation plan; adaptation plan; Spain; Italy; Urban Audit;
    All these keywords.

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