ARE WE ON THE RIGHT TRACK? THIS IS WHAT WE FOUND WHEN REVIEWING CLIMATE POLICIES IN 885 EUROPEAN CITIES

The brief finds that while 66% of EU cities have climate plans, there is significant disparity based on city size and national legislation. National mandates in countries like Denmark and the UK significantly increase the likelihood of cities having plans, while many cities in Spain and Italy rely on international networks like the Covenant of Mayors due to a lack of national guidance.

• Approximately 66% of EU cities have a mitigation or adaptation plan in place, with Poland (97%), Germany (81%), Ireland (80%), Finland (78%), and Sweden (77%) leading in mitigation plans, and Finland leading in adaptation plans (78%).
• National legislation is a primary driver for the creation of Local Climate Plans; cities in Denmark, France, Slovakia, and the UK, where LCPs are law, are nearly twice as likely to have mitigation plans and five times as likely to have adaptation plans compared to the rest of Europe.
• There is a strong correlation between city size and the presence of stand-alone climate plans, with approximately 80% of cities with more than 500,000 inhabitants having mitigation and/or adaptation plans.
• A significant number of cities lack stand-alone plans, including 33% of all EU cities (288 cities), with no stand-alone plans found in any city in Bulgaria or Hungary.
• Many cities, particularly in Spain (60.6%) and Italy (76.3%), rely on international networks such as the Covenant of Mayors for Energy and Climate to develop plans, often due to a lack of national or regional guidance.

APA

Olazabala, M., Heidrich, O., & Reckien, D. (2018). ARE WE ON THE RIGHT TRACK? THIS IS WHAT WE FOUND WHEN REVIEWING CLIMATE POLICIES IN 885 EUROPEAN CITIES. Basque Centre for Climate Change. https://www.bc3research.org/h6T8Uy8Nm4gFs0O/20180625121414461037467.pdf

Chicago

Olazabala, Marta, Oliver Heidrich, and Diana Reckien. ARE WE ON THE RIGHT TRACK? THIS IS WHAT WE FOUND WHEN REVIEWING CLIMATE POLICIES IN 885 EUROPEAN CITIES. Basque Centre for Climate Change, 2018. https://www.bc3research.org/h6T8Uy8Nm4gFs0O/20180625121414461037467.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Olazabala |first1=Marta |last2=Heidrich |first2=Oliver |last3=Reckien |first3=Diana |title=ARE WE ON THE RIGHT TRACK? THIS IS WHAT WE FOUND WHEN REVIEWING CLIMATE POLICIES IN 885 EUROPEAN CITIES |publisher=Basque Centre for Climate Change |date=2018 |url=https://www.bc3research.org/h6T8Uy8Nm4gFs0O/20180625121414461037467.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{olazabala2018are, author = {Olazabala, Marta and Heidrich, Oliver and Reckien, Diana}, title = {{ARE WE ON THE RIGHT TRACK? THIS IS WHAT WE FOUND WHEN REVIEWING CLIMATE POLICIES IN 885 EUROPEAN CITIES}}, institution = {Basque Centre for Climate Change}, year = {2018}, url = {https://www.bc3research.org/h6T8Uy8Nm4gFs0O/20180625121414461037467.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }