European cities plan to take action on climate change adaptation

A recent report has revealed that increasing numbers of European cities are developing adaptation plans to climate change as risks become increasingly severe. Among measures cities need to enact are flood defense planning, water management during drought periods, ensuring that new buildings provide natural cooling and that old infrastructure is made more energy efficient. The document, released by the emissions measurement organisation Carbon Disclosure Project, and the global consultancy Accenture, surveyed 22 European cities about their greenhouse gas emissions and climate change strategies.

The cities surveyed include ICLEI members Amsterdam (Netherlands), Berlin (Germany), London (UK), Rome (Italy), and Helsinki (Finland). Since 18 of the 22 European cities said they face ‘significant risks’ arising from climate change and 54 percent of them see these risks as ‘severe’ or ‘very severe', the survey found that 77 percent of the cities have completed, or almost completed, risk assessments to understand the effects of climate change.

86 percent of the European cities surveyed have set a city-wide emissions reduction target, and the cities of Helsinki and Berlin are already using voluntary agreements with the private sector to strengthen their cities' climate protection goals. The report came out less than a week after the Rio+20 Conference, which took place in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) from 20 - 22 June 2012, and highlighted the idea that local governments and actors will have to lead efforts to advance towards a more sustainable future.

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Source: ICLEI

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