Cities and Climate Change: Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies in the Mediterranean

26 October 2021. From 18:00 To 19:15 | Conference | English | French | Online

Following the increasing urbanization in the last decade, especially in the South of the region, more and more economic activities are concentrating in the cities and metropolitan areas of the Mediterranean Basin. Although these cities are the drivers of economic growth, innovation, and job creation, they also account for about 70% of global carbon emissions and over 60% of resource use worldwide. This fact urges us to think local actors as crucial stakeholders in the fight against climate change. Considering that cities represent half of the world’s population and two-thirds of the global economy, climate action at the city-level is indeed critical.

In this context, integrating strategic mitigation and adaptation policies into urban agendas will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions in urban settlements while fostering resilience to climate hazards. Moreover, these strategies are to be developed across multiple and strategic urban sectors, especially those related to energy production and consumption, housing, land use, waste management, industry, transportation, and land-sea interaction. In that sense, the role of urban actors remains essential to achieve not only climate-related commitments, but all SDGs.

Understanding the role of cities as drivers of sustainability is critical to develop synergies between all levels of governance, the civil society and the citizenry, towards the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. The latter recognises the importance of urban settlements as a key level for sustainable development. However, even though cities are central to achieve climate-neutrality by 2050, in the Mediterranean they often lack the capacities, power, and funding to effectively tackle the huge challenge of sustainability.