Bridging the Climate Gap
Study: How Can Municipalities Contribute to a Carbon Neutral Society?
Most global emissions are attributable to urban areas. Nevertheless, most cities and municipalities are making little progress towards achieving their sustainability goals and those of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. In their joint study Bridging the Climate Gap, thinkstep AG and Drees & Sommer have investigated what is hindering them and what solutions are available. The experts analyzed 15 European cities, including Aarhus, Glasgow, Helsinki, Munich and the Swedish city of Växjö. One of the key findings is that more than 60 percent of participating cities lack stronger political support.
What strategies and action are cities and municipalities pursuing for climate protection? What obstacles and opportunities are they facing? Are the current steps sufficient to stay below the 1.5°C temperature increase recommended by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and prevent the worst effects of climate change? These questions are the focus of the study entitled Bridging the Climate Gap by Martin Blumberg, VP Sustainable Building & Construction at thinkstep AG, and Drees & Sommer’s Blue City team leader Gregor Grassl, urban planner and expert planner for energy efficiency. The study is based on interviews and surveys with representatives of municipal administrations and other empirically derived facts.
More Political and Financial Support Needed
All the cities in the study claimed to be affected by the consequences of global warming, and they regard the effects of climate change as relevant to their city. At the same time, they do not all feel equally compelled to take action. More than 60 percent of the cities currently lack greater political support, although they believe it is necessary. ‘If you were to ask politicians, no one would say that we do not care about CO2 savings. However, I believe that in practice it is not the number one priority,’ said Martin Blumberg.
