A Territorial Approachto Climate Actionand Resilience

This report proposes a policy framework to help decision makers develop more effective climate and
resilience policies through a “territorial approach”. A territorial approach to climate action and resilience
is defined as ‘a comprehensive policy framework that integrates a place-based perspective into national
and subnational climate policies and mainstreams climate objectives into urban, rural and regional
development policies, to effectively drive climate action at all territorial scales.’ Adopting a territorial
approach is critical for national and subnational governments to tap into the full potential to reduce
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across all places and better address locally specific climate impacts,
which often hit the most vulnerable communities the hardest.

Key Findings
Most OECD cities and regions are far from reaching net-zero. In 2018, only 61 out of the 432 OECD
large regions (14%) had production-based emissions per capita below the threshold consistent with the
IEA Net Zero Emissions (NZE) scenario (4.7 t CO2-eq per capita) to reach net-zero in 2050. Metropolitan
regions are generally performing better than non-metropolitan regions on a production per capita basis,
with average emissions per capita half those in regions far from a metropolitan area. At the Functional
Urban Area (FUA) scale, in 2018, almost half of OECD metropolitan areas with more than 500 000
inhabitants came in below 4.7 t CO2-eq per capita. However, rather than seeing declines, on average, they
saw their total emissions grow by 24% from 1990 to 2018.
The volume and source of GHG emissions vary significantly across geographical scales within countries, highlighting that the pathways to achieving a net-zero transition will also differ. For instance, renewables account for more than half of the electricity generation in remote regions and less than 20% in large metropolitan regions. Road-based emissions per capita in remote regions are, for example, on average more than three times higher than in large metropolitan regions. In addition, GHG intensive activities, such as carbon-intensive power generation, are typically located outside of cities (reinforcing in turn the importance of complementary measures on, and policies to abate, emissions based on consumption). Moreover, in 80% of the OECD’s FUAs, the built-up area grew faster than population between 2000 and 2020.
There are non-negligible territorial disparities in terms of climate impacts. For instance, in 2021, cities with more than 250 000 inhabitants were on average 3°C warmer than their surrounding area, which is almost twice as high as in cities with less than 100 000 inhabitants. In 45 OECD regions located in 18 different countries, more than 20% of their population are at risk of river flooding. In Rotterdam, the Netherlands, more than 60% of its population is at risk.

Recommended actions
Drawing on an analysis of 36 leading practices from countries, regions and cities mainly in the OECD area,
three types of actions are recommended.
Integrate a place-based perspective into climate policy:

• Measure and monitor GHG emissions, climate risks and impacts at different territorial
  levels. Standardised and common indicator frameworks can help quantify GHG emissions and measure the distance of cities and regions with regard to local, national and global goals and targets, where applicable. Climate risk and vulnerability assessments should be made at more granular geographical scales, including cross-sectoral impacts, to better address territorial disparities. Developing subnational consumption-based emissions estimates can help cities and regions understand emissions embedded in consumption and, in turn, provide a metric to target the efficacy of demand-side mitigation policies.
• Fully incorporate local action into national climate plans and strategies. Although most
  national governments have incorporated local perspectives into their climate plans and strategies
  in one way or another, the extent to which they do so varies across countries. For example, only a
  limited number of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) mention the emission reduction
  targets set by their regions or cities. Only a third of OECD countries mention the role of local
  authorities in measuring and evaluating adaptation progress in their National Adaptation Plans
  (NAPs) and National Adaptation Strategies (NAS).
• Develop subnational climate goals and targets that reflect specific local needs and
  interests, in line with the Paris Agreement. In 23 out of 38 OECD countries, at least one city or
  region has set a more ambitious net-zero or carbon neutrality target than that of their respective
  national government. However, in general, most cities and regions are still far from reaching netzero as highlighted above. Indeed, many cities and regions are still without a target or climate plan,
  often reflecting technical and financial gaps. National government can play a critical role in bridging
  these. For example, Japan’s Regional Decarbonisation Roadmap programme aims to provide
  financial and technical support to 100 Leading Decarbonisation Regions targeting net-zero by
  2030

source :

https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/a-territorial-approach-to-climate-action-and-resilience_1ec42b0a-en/full-report.html