Financing Cities Adaptation to Climate Change through Public-Private Partnerships and Corporate Social Responsibility

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

BACKGROUND

Around 1 726 municipalities from 26 EU Member States have joined the Mayors Adapt initiative or the new Covenant of Mayors (CoM) for Climate & Energy. From these, 873 have submitted Action Plans including adaptation targets by 2019. However, these efforts will only produce results if they are accompanied by adaptation actions on the ground. Local authorities identified the lack of financial resources as the main barrier to an effective implementation of climate change adaptation planning.

OBJECTIVES

The main objective of LIFE CITYAdaP3 is to mobilise financial resources for urban climate change adaptation by engaging with the European private sector. The project team will do this in two ways: i) through the development of public-private cooperation schemes between companies and local authorities; and ii) through the integration of climate change adaptation in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) topics. A further objective is to enhance the Covenant of Mayors through the implementation of Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plans (SECAPs). The project team will demonstrate their approach in cities in the Spanish Region of Murcia.

The project is directly linked to the European Green Deal and the EU Strategy on adaptation to climate change; specifically Action 3 on promoting adaptation action by cities along the Covenant of Mayors initiative. The project focuses on urban adaptation and land use planning to limit the impacts of climate change, in line with the SECAPs of several municipalities.

RESULTS

Expected results: The signing of, at least, 15 collaboration agreements between local authorities and companies in the Murcia Region of Spain. This collaboration will involve an investment of EUR 200 000 by the private sector to co-finance 4 pilot actions on urban climate change adaptation and their participation in stakeholders groups for the monitoring of SECAPs.

The implementation of these pilot actions will have the following quantified results:

Creation of 0.6 km of a climate-resilient pedestrian and cycle paths to improve mobility between the urban and industrial areas in Alcantarilla;

Reforestation of around 34 000 m2 of urban parks in Molina de Segura and Reggio Emilia to reduce urban heat island (UHI) effects, and creation of 5 climate refuges for public recreation;

Improvement of water drainage by implementing Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS) in Molina de Segura and Alcantarilla;

Restoration of 57 376 m2 of urban hills in Lorqu to prevent landslides. This action will include 160 cave-houses;

Refurbishment of an educational greenhouse in Molina de Segura into a bioclimatic classroom (140 m2) to be used for awareness-raising activities on climate change;

Assessment of streets in Molina de Segura and definition of climate-resilient paths between the bioclimatic infrastructure and the refurbished urban park;

Planting of 1 724 trees in Reggio Emilia; and

A positive impact on 106 000 inhabitants around the intervention areas (93 362 m2).

 

Regarding transfer and replication actions, the project will engage 12 more municipalities (9 in Spain, 3 in Italy) to work side by side to gain private support for financing urban adaptation actions and the opportunities offered by CSR in this sense.

Finally, as a result of dissemination actions, local people will be aware of the project actions.