Covenant of Mayors: 2023 Assessment report
Most reported climate hazards by Covenant cities and their attributes: current probability and impact, expected change in hazard frequency, intensity, and timeframe. Source: JRC elaboration on Covenant data.
The Joint Research Centre (JRC) is about to release its "Covenant of Mayors: 2023 Assessment" report [1], highlighting the pivotal role that local authorities play in Europe's efforts to achieve climate neutrality and build resilience. This report is particularly relevant to the EU Missions, offering actionable knowledge on the impacts of climate change and effective responses for mitigation and adaptation.
How is knowledge on impacts and adaptation used at territorial level?
The Global Covenant of Mayors (GCoM) for Climate and Energy includes over 11,300 cities and local governments from Europe and its neighbouring countries. As the Covenant celebrates 15 years of climate action, the JRC's report is an evidence of the progress made and the challenges ahead. The study highlights Covenant signatories’ efforts in developing a comprehensive understanding of their climate risks and vulnerability. However, they often face challenges in monitoring progress, such as establishing measurable goals or aligning planned actions with defined goals, which makes measuring progress challenging. This challenge may be attributed - at least in part - to the lack of internationally recognised standards for defining ‘adaptation goals’ and the absence of explicit guidelines for signatories.
Furthermore, prioritising hazards and impacted sectors for action has proved to be challenging. The sectors reported as the most vulnerable may not align with those targeted for action. In this case, signatories might have difficulties in implementing actions in sectors where have limited jurisdictional competence of financial capacity.
Useful insights for the EU Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change
Identifying climate risks and vulnerabilities
A staggering 91% of Covenant signatories have identified 'extreme heat' and 'heavy precipitation' as the most common climate hazards, followed closely by 'droughts & water scarcity' and ‘floods & sea level rise’. With the exception of 'extreme cold', all climate hazards are reported with high or medium impacts and are expected to intensify. In particular, 'extreme heat' and 'droughts’ are projected to have significant increases in intensity and frequency.
Furthermore, an analysis from 1,770 action plans on adaptation reveals that vulnerable groups - such as elderly and low-income residents – are at significant risk from these climate hazards. Agriculture, biodiversity, emergency services, and the health sector are also identified as particularly vulnerable, emphasising the need for targeted adaptation strategies within these areas.
Ambitious local climate adaptation actions
Actions reported by signatories with the GCoM initiative can be marked as ‘mitigation’, ‘adaptation’ and ‘energy poverty / access’.
Despite the strong uptake and maturity in city goals and actions regarding mitigation, it is clear that cities' attention, awareness, and efforts on adaptation are still lagging, albeit showing signs of growth. However, an increase in local adaptation actions, averaging around 10 actions, shows significant progress, with a notable peak in the activities observed in 2020.
From science to policy: key take-away messages
- To empower local authorities in implementing and reporting adaptation actions, it’s vital to encourage capacity-building and peer learning initiatives.
- Closing the gap between local initiatives and EU-wide targets is essential. Enhanced support from multiple levels of government is needed to ensure the effective contribution of local actions to EU objectives.
- Local decision makers should set clear and measurable adaptation goals that address identified risks and vulnerabilities. Notably, integrating social vulnerability considerations is particularly important to safeguard all community members.
[1] The release of the report is foreseen for the end of May. Results from the previous Assessment available here.
