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Electricity demand is a crucial factor in energy system planning. Understanding future electricity demand is vital for developing effective energy and climate policies, as well as establishing a resilient and sustainable energy system. In light of these considerations, the escalating challenges posed by climate change are anticipated to have a substantial impact on electricity demand. This study, therefore, provides a comprehensive analysis delving into the dynamic nature of Temperature Response Functions (TRFs) of electricity demand across Europe. By examining various factors influencing electricity demand in residential buildings, such as thermal insulation, heating electrification, space cooling, and passive cooling, we aim to understand their collective impact on shaping future Temperature Response Functions. To project electricity demand, our study incorporates these factors into our scenario assumptions. Through a comprehensive investigation of these scenarios, our findings reveal distinctive regional influences of these factors. In regions where heating demand prevails, an initial increase in electricity demand is anticipated due to increased electrification rates. However, improved building thermal insulation is expected to substantially reduce winter electricity demand in the long run. Conversely, in regions with pronounced cooling demand, a notable escalation in electricity demand is foreseen due to increased space cooling penetration rate. Nevertheless, the application of effective passive cooling measurements is expected to mitigate and markedly diminish this increase. By highlighting the differential influences of these factors on electricity demand across Europe, our findings can offer valuable insights and guidelines first for energy system modelers for considering the change in Temperature Response Functions and second for policymakers to develop effective climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies. • Examination of the dynamic characteristics of Temperature Response Functions (TRFs). • Space and passive cooling, electric heating, insulation effects on electricity demand. • Projection of TRFs and electricity demand for 36 European countries until 2100. • Thermal insulation and passive cooling are essential for reducing electricity demand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the potential of utilizing carbon credits to finance innovative local energy communities in Europe, addressing a significant gap in academic literature. Despite the growing interest in voluntary carbon credits as a mechanism for offsetting carbon emissions, there is limited evidence connecting local energy systems to voluntary carbon markets. The study explores whether carbon credits could serve as a practical tool for funding the development of energy communities, contributing to sustainable energy transitions and climate mitigation strategies. The research employs a comprehensive methodology to assess the quality of carbon credit projects and examines ten innovative energy community projects in Europe. Key findings reveal there is potential for using carbon credits to finance energy community initiatives. However, challenges persist, particularly regarding financing barriers and the volatile nature of carbon markets. The study underscores the importance of policy support in establishing clear standards for voluntary markets and promoting the accessibility of carbon offsets. Furthermore, it suggests potential solutions such as pre-financing agreements and the utilization of carbon market derivatives to enhance project viability. Overall, the study offers insights into the intersection between voluntary carbon markets and local energy initiatives, providing a foundation for further research and policy development in the field of local sustainable development and climate change mitigation. [Display omitted] • Innovative local energy communities in Europe have significant carbon emissions reduction potential. • Carbon credit issuance could financially support the development of local energy initiatives. • Challenges persist in accessing financing and navigating volatile carbon markets. • Policy support is crucial in establishing clear standards for voluntary carbon markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on the influence of related and unrelated variety on specialization in climate change mitigation technologies on a regional level in Europe. We consider two dimensions of specialization: the degree of specialization and being specialized or not. We also investigate the moderating role of public policy direction towards climate change mitigation at regional, national, and EU regime level. Based on a fixed effect specification of patent data relating to climate technologies in 194 regions during the period 2008–2017, we find that related variety positively influences the degree of specialization in climate technologies, but only in regions with a low degree of specialization. We also report a weakening effect of national policy level environmental taxation and of the European Regional Development Fund for related variety. Regarding being specialized as a region in climate technologies, our study reveals a positive role played by unrelated variety and a negative moderating effect exerted by both national policy level environmental taxation and European Regional Development Fund policy support. We discuss implications for policymaking in the field of climate change mitigation technologies. • We study the effect of variety on regional specialization in climate technologies. • We check related and unrelated variety and moderating effects of policy direction. • Related variety fosters specialization in regions with low degree of specialization. • Unrelated variety stimulates regional specialization in climate technologies. • Environmental taxation and ERDF support temper the positive effects of variety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The nexus between forest-based climate mitigation and health is poorly researched. • This scoping review identified exposure pathways and health co-benefits from forests. • There is potential for synergies between forest management and health benefits. • Interdisciplinary efforts are required for advancement of research and understanding. Climate change is a pressing global challenge with profound implications for human health. Forest-based climate change mitigation strategies, such as afforestation, reforestation, and sustainable forest management, offer promising solutions to mitigate climate change and simultaneously yield substantial co-benefits for human health. The objective of this scoping review was to examine research trends related to the interdisciplinary nexus between forests as carbon sinks and human health co-benefits. We developed a conceptual framework model, supporting the inclusion of exposure pathways, such as recreational opportunities or aesthetic experiences, in the co-benefit context. We used a scoping review methodology to identify the proportion of European research on forest-based mitigation strategies that acknowledge the interconnection between mitigation strategies and human impacts. We also aimed to assess whether synergies and trade-offs between forest-based carbon sink capacity and human co-benefits has been analysed and quantified. From the initial 4,062 records retrieved, 349 reports analysed European forest management principles and factors related to climate change mitigation capacity. Of those, 97 studies acknowledged human co-benefits and 13 studies quantified the impacts on exposure pathways or health co-benefits and were included for full review. Our analysis demonstrates that there is potential for synergies related to optimising carbon sink capacity together with human co-benefits, but there is currently a lack of holistic research approaches assessing these interrelationships. We suggest enhanced interdisciplinary efforts, using for example multideterminant modelling approaches, to advance evidence and understanding of the forest and health nexus in the context of climate change mitigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trees absorb CO 2 and reduce the impact of GHGs. This paper deals about the carbon uptake dynamics produced by the management of unused lands as tool to help the fulfilment of international commitments on atmospheric CO 2. The paper introduces a new perspective of using the unused lands around Municipalities to compensate the carbon emissions of urban contexts, according to the Sustainable Energy Action Plans as answer to climate change, already approved by the most part of Cities in Europe. The model of the carbon dynamics is based on a genetic algorithm which allows to find the sequence of operations on the unused land in space (portions of the land) and time (rotation of cuts and plantations) to ensure the reaching of a given outcome in terms of carbon captured. The algorithm, therefore, behaves as design support of land management, enriching the literature available for the sector. The paper identifies two possible original scenarios of storing carbon referred as " emergency " and " constant rate "; the first produces after fifty years a maximum carbon uptake of the order of 100 tC/ha while the second a maximum uptake rate of the order of 2 tC/(year ha), after an initial start-up period of 40–50 years. • Mathematical model to evaluate tree growth and carbon sink from reforestation. • Optimization model to manage the carbon uptake in different scenarios. • Forest represents an effective way to remove carbon from atmosphere. • Carbon stock per unit of unused areas around cities and urban area. • Climate mitigation tool suitable by municipality in the context of SECAPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forests can contribute to climate change mitigation by sequestering carbon when management intensity is reduced. However, there is high uncertainty regarding biomass dynamics in temperate forests after the cessation of management. We used forest inventory data from an extensive network of 224 plots in 37 natural forest reserves (NFR) covering a wide environmental gradient with mean annual temperatures ranging from 1 to 10.4 °C and mean annual precipitation ranging from 901 to 2317 mm. Inventories had been conducted approximately every 10 years during the last 60 years. We used mixed effect models to (i) analyse biomass development, (ii) assess the role of time since the cessation of management (TSCM) and (iii) disentangle the environmental and forest structural drivers of biomass change. After the cessation of management and in the absence of high-severity natural disturbances, biomass accumulated gradually along a saturation curve. There were large differences in biomass among reserves and plots, with values ranging from 101 Mg ha−1 to 851.2 Mg ha−1, with a median of 362.1 Mg ha−1 (SD = 122.5 Mg ha−1). The biomass curve did not yet tend towards an equilibrium, most likely because the majority of the NFRs do not exceed 100 years of TSCM. Compared to higher elevations, forests at lower, warmer sites showed a larger total biomass and higher rates of biomass accumulation. We found a reduction by 148 Mg ha−1 of biomass per 1000 m of elevation gain. The strongest positive rate of change (>8 Mg ha−1 year−1) was found in forests with high basal area (>60 m2 ha−1) and medium to high levels of tree density (1500 to 2000 stems ha−1). Overall, most reserves have not reached a biomass equilibrium yet and continue to act as carbon sinks in tree biomass. This highlights the carbon sequestration capacity of forest reserves and their role as carbon pools. [Display omitted] • Long-term forest inventories of unmanaged forest used to understand biomass dynamics. • Forests after cessation of management increase their biomass over long time periods. • In the absence of natural disturbances biomass asymptotically approaches saturation. • Large differences in biomass among plots, ranging from 101 Mg ha−1 to 851.2 Mg ha−1. • The studied unmanaged forests continue to act as carbon sinks in tree biomass. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Europe, increasing the area of legume crops has been identified as a key measure to achieve the objectives set by the European Green Deal and transition toward more sustainable food systems. Although the role of grain legumes in climate change mitigation has been closely examined, little research has focused on how climate change will challenge the development of these crops. This article systematically reviews recent simulation studies to assess the impact of climate change on grain legume performances in Europe and the effect of adaptation strategies. Forty papers using process-based, ecological niche, or statistical models were selected to simulate the response of eight grain legume species to future climate (2020–2100) in Europe. The lack of data on adaptation strategies in Europe was compensated for by enlarging the study area to climatically similar regions. The review highlights a notable imbalance between research about soybean versus other grain legumes, with soybean representing approximately 80% of selected studies. Studies focused on soybean found good agreement, with yield or suitability gains found in northern Europe and a higher probability of yield losses in southern and south-eastern Europe. While a similar spatial pattern may be expected for other grain legumes, the scarcity of data makes this result more uncertain. The review also shows that several adaptation strategies have the potential to mitigate the negative impact of climate change on grain legume performances or enhance its positive impact. The most promising strategies tested include irrigation, change in sowing date, and cultivar choice. In addition, we identify several knowledge gaps that, if addressed, would support legume development in Europe. In particular, key species such as field pea, faba bean, lentil, and chickpea remain blind spots, despite their prominent role in European environmental, agricultural, and nutritional policies. Other knowledge gaps include a lack of accounting for crop response to elevated CO 2 , ozone, and future biotic pressure, and a limited range of adaptation strategies tested and indicators assessed. Implementing multi-criteria analyses that involve stakeholders would help identify relevant inputs and outputs for future simulations. • We review 40 papers assessing grain legume response to climate change in Europe. • Grain legumes other than soybean are blind spots despite their role in policies. • For soybean, yield gains are expected in the north and yield losses in the south. • Adaptation strategies can mitigate the impact of climate change on grain legumes. • We identify several knowledge gaps, including a lack of data on key legume species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We examine the impacts of personal social capital and national carbon dependency on citizens' response to climate change in 22 European countries. • We utilize individual-level data from the 2016 European Social Survey and corresponding country-level data from multiple sources. • We conduct multilevel regression for analyses. • People with higher social capital are more likely to have climate-mitigation behavioral intention and show support for climate policy. • Greater national carbon dependency tends to inhibit public response to climate change. Climate change is one of the most challenging issues facing the world today, and it is important to have effective policies to address its impact. One critical factor in shaping climate policy is public response to climate change. In this study, we theoretically and empirically focus on examining the impacts of personal social capital and national carbon dependency on citizens' response to climate change in 22 European countries. Utilizing individual-level data from the 2016 European Social Survey and corresponding country-level data from multiple sources, we conduct multilevel regression analyses. Findings show that in these 22 European countries people with higher social capital are more likely to have climate-mitigation behavioral intention and show support for climate policy, while greater national carbon dependency tends to inhibit public response to climate change. We conclude by discussing this study's contributions to the literature and policy implications and offer suggestions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• European citizens expect farmers to deliver multiple functions from their land. • The nature and magnitude of these 'societal demands' differ between Member States. • We map these demands by reviewing the EU policies on sustainable land management. • Countries with the lowest societal demands have invested most in sustainability. • The proposed Strategic Plans allow for context-specific land management practices. The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the European Union (EU) has been highly successful in securing the supply of food from Europe's agricultural land. However, new expectations have emerged from society on the functions that agricultural land should deliver, including the expectations that land should regulate and purify water, should sequester carbon to contribute to the mitigation of climate change, should provide a home for biodiversity and allow for the sustainable cycling of nutrients in animal and human waste streams. Through a series of reforms of the CAP, these expectations, or 'societal demands' have translated into a myriad of EU and national level policies aimed at safeguarding the sustainability and multifunctionality of European agriculture, resulting in a highly complex regulatory environment for land managers. The current reform of the CAP aims to simultaneously simplify and strengthen policy making on environmental protection and climate action, through the development of Strategic Plans at national level, which allow for more targeted and context-specific policy formation. In this paper, we contribute to the knowledge base underpinning the development of these Strategic Plans by mapping the variation in the societal demands for soil functions across EU Member States, based on an extensive review of the existing policy environment relating to sustainable and multifunctional land management. We show that the societal demands for primary production, water regulation and purification, carbon sequestration, biodiversity and nutrient cycling vary greatly between Member States, as determined by population, farming systems and livestock densities, geo-environmental conditions and landscape configuration. Moreover, the total societal demands for multifunctionality differs between Member States, with the lowest demands found in Member States that have designated the higher shares of EU CAP funding towards 'Pillar 2′ expenditure, aimed at environmental protection and regional development. We review which lessons can be learnt from these observations, in the context of the proposals for the new CAP for the period 2021–2027, which include enhanced conditionality of direct income support for farmers and the instigation of eco-schemes in Pillar 1, in addition to Agri-Environmental and Climate Measures in Pillar 2. We conclude that the devolution of planning to Strategic Plans at national level provides an opportunity for more effective and targeted incentivisation of sustainable land management, provided that these plans take account for variations in the societal demand for soil functions, as well as the capacity of contrasting soils to deliver on this multifunctionality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Assessing generalizability of age prediction across cities and countries based on urban form. • Evaluating amount of local data needed to fill data gaps. • Detailed analysis of predictive performance across regions, construction periods, settlement and buildings types. • Assessing the usability of predictions to improve prioritization of large-scale retrofits. • Highlighting climate relevance of scalable, spatially explicit building attribute prediction. • Filling data gaps within countries is possible. • 10% local data allow inference of remaining unknown building ages. • Massive training data improves generalization across regions. • Generalizing across countries is not (yet) possible. • Age predictions can inform retrofit policies and may significantly increase energy savings. To stay within 1.5 °C of global warming, reducing energy-related emissions in the building sector is essential. Rather than generic climate recommendations, this requires tailored, low-carbon urban planning solutions and spatially explicit methods that can inform policy measures at urban, street and building scale. Here, we propose a scalable method that is able to predict building age information in different European countries using only open urban morphology data. We find that spatially cross-validated regression models are sufficiently robust to generalize and predict building age in unseen cities with a mean absolute error (MAE) between 15.3 years (Netherlands) and 19.9 years (Spain). Our experiments show that large-scale models improve generalization for predicting across cities, but are not needed to infer missing data within known cities. Filling data gaps within known cities is possible with a MAE between 9.6 years (Netherlands) and 16.7 years (Spain). Overall, our results demonstrate the feasibility of generating missing age data in different contexts across Europe and informing climate mitigation policies such as large-scale energy retrofits. For the French residential building stock, we find that using age predictions to target retrofit efforts can increase energy savings by more than 50% compared to missing age data. Finally, we highlight challenges posed by data inconsistencies and urban form differences between countries that need to be addressed for an actual roll-out of such methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A RCM is used to study the effect of LCC on climate extremes in Europe. • LCC significantly changes the occurrence frequency and duration of extreme climate. • Increasing understanding of land cover change-climate interactions. • Findings are helpful in developing future land management strategies in Europe. Extremes in climate and weather can pose significant challenges to economy, ecosystems and human health. Changes in land cover are one of the drivers for variability in frequency and magnitude of extreme climate at regional and local levels. In this study, a regional climate model (COSMO-CLM v4.8) is used to simulate effects in climate extremes from two different idealized land cover change scenarios in Europe. These two simulations involve abrupt large-scale conversion of today forestland to herbaceous vegetation (deforestation), and of today cropland to evergreen needle-leave forest (afforestation). A control simulation with today land cover distribution is used to identify differences in extreme climate. We find significant changes in extreme climate in both deforestation and afforestation simulations, with seasonal and spatial differences. Deforestation causes a warmer summer (with higher annual maximum temperature) and a colder winter (with lower annual minimum temperature). Afforestation slightly increases the average intensity of the hot extremes, although with high spatial variability (a reduction is common in several locations), and mitigates cold extremes in winter. Changes in extreme indices show that deforestation increases both the frequency and duration of hot and cold extremes, while afforestation causes a lower frequency of extreme cold climate. The two simulations show opposing results in the number of frozen days, as they increase for deforestation and decrease for afforestation. A drier climate is found after deforestation, whereas a wetter climate is observed after afforestation. In general, deforestation and afforestation increase the frequency of hot extreme climate as they reduce the return period and increase the return level. Overall, our findings show the potential critical effects that land cover changes can have on climate extremes, and the possible synergies that land management strategies and planning can have for climate change mitigation and adaptation at a regional scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This study reviews conservative political party policy positions in six European countries with high greenhouse-gas emissions (France, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, and the U.K.). Using party platform statements from recent election campaigns, the positions of moderate conservative parties are compared with those of far-right political parties to investigate similarities and differences on energy-transition policy. Three areas of policy are considered: climate-change mitigation, fossil-fuel development or sunsetting, and renewable energy and energy efficiency development. In the countries examined, moderate conservative parties generally remain committed to climate-mitigation policy and renewable energy and energy efficiency policy, but there are some roll-backs of support, and there is variation in their support for fossil-fuel development. Far-right parties tend to show evidence of rejection of climate science, opposition to decarbonization in general, support for natural gas hydraulic fracturing technologies, support for continued use of coal, and opposition to some types of policy favorable to renewable energy and energy efficiency. However, some far-right parties, notably in France and Spain, share several important positions with the center-right parties. The study cautions against assuming an automatic linkage between far-right parties and opposition to energy-transition policies and against assuming that far-right parties will oppose all types of energy-transition policies. Highlights • Skepticism and rejection of climate science appears in some of the platforms of far-right Euroskeptic parties. • The far-right parties of Germany, the Netherlands, and the U.K. are strongly opposed to a range of energy-transition policies. • The far-right parties of France and Spain have more moderate positions that are close to center-right parties. • Far-right parties tend to be opposed to wind power but less so to energy efficiency and distributed solar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This is the first study of UGI environmental impacts in an intermediate city of Spain. • UGI actions evaluated are effective at contributing to the climate change mitigation. • The type of UGI selected and its management has a great influence on carbon uptake. Sustainable development challenges are increasingly concentrated in urban areas. In the European Union (EU), cities are expanding their urban green infrastructure (UGI) to reduce the effects of climate change and enhance resilience and sustainability. However, there exist few articles showing local case studies in intermediate cities of Europe. The aim of this study is to analyse the climate change mitigation potential of a set of urban forests and agriculture actions implemented within the EU LIFE Program, in the northern Spain city of Lugo. First, the amount of CO 2 reduced by the UGI was calculated, also considering the emissions released from their implementation and management (I&M). In addition, the ecological balance was estimated, as an indicator to determine the sustainability of the UGI actions. Both biocapacity and quantity of emissions during I&M were found to be significantly different between the urban agriculture and urban forestry actions, showing that the type of UGI selected and its management has a great influence on the final carbon uptake. The global ecological balance was equal to 1.85 Global hectares, indicating that the evaluated UGI actions are effective at contributing to the climate change mitigation, in addition to other great co-benefits. Nonetheless, carbon uptake was 0.26 t C ha-1 per year, which is in the lower range compared to other cities in Europe. The quantification of benefits of this individual city experience is important to increase the attention of policies and management plans on UGI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Many governments are pursuing increasingly active industrial strategies. • The Paris Agreement requires urgent action on low carbon transformations. • Low Carbon Industrial Strategies can combine socio-economic and environmental goals. • Neo-Schumpeterian theories inform states' support for mission-oriented innovation. • Ecological Economics highlights need for low carbon and circular economy. Abstract The recent re-emergence of industrial policy as a legitimate pursuit of governments in Europe and the US has the potential to open up a new realm of policy action for climate change mitigation. This would aim to align efforts to secure national industrial opportunities with the development of low carbon industrial systems, so as to generate both socio-economic and environmental benefits. The paper discusses the role of low carbon industrial strategy in seeking to do this, thereby accelerating transitions to a low carbon economy. It sets out the elements of a more systemic low carbon industrial strategy, including providing a mission-oriented and learning-based approach, drawing on and combining insights from neo-Schumpeterian and ecological economics perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Agroforestry practices occupy less than 10% of the potential European area. • Agroforestry promotion should be simplified in the CAP. • Agroforestry can be linked to arable land, permanent grasslands and permanent crops as well as forestlands. Abstract Agroforestry is an integrated land use management that combines a woody component with a lower story agricultural production recognized as one of the most important tools to mitigate and adapt to climate change. The objective of this paper is to provide a categorization and extent of agroforestry practices linked to agricultural and forest lands at regional level and evaluate how are they promoted by the previous (2007–2013) and current CAP (2014–2020) with a special focus on climate change mitigation potential. Agroforestry occupies almost 20 million hectares in Europe, being silvopasture and homegardens the most extensively spread practices and forest farming not quantified. Agroforestry practices are promoted at European level but in a really complex form as more than 25 measures are implemented to enhance the existing 5 agroforestry practices (silvopasture, silvoarable, riparian buffer strips, forest farming and homegardens). Simplification of the number of measures to promote agroforestry practices is needed to better follow up the implementation and to evaluate and provide future policies more adapted at European levels. Huge potential climate change mitigation options should be focused on the use of silvopasture on forest lands to reduce forest fires and to increase the presence of the woody component on arable lands (silvoarable) but also on the promotion of forest farming and homegardens as forms to increase the use of short supply chains and to increase the connection of urban, periurban and rural areas within a bioeconomy and circular economy framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extensive scientific literature exists on the risks associated with climate change in cities. Contrarily, the analysis on the risks local governments face in moving towards zero emissions targets is sparse, topical, and local. In this study, we provide a first-of-its-kind synoptic risk analysis directly based on cities' experiences, inputs, and prospects for the future, collated through the questionnaire to express interest in the European Mission for 100 Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities by 2030. This novel dataset contains a variety of information 362 cities provided in relation to all critical (technological and non-technological) elements that contribute to climate mitigation, while enucleating the risks that may arise along the way. The analysis focuses on nine risk domains (including political, financial, regulatory, operational, organisational, collaborative, social, environmental, and safety/security risks) and delves into possible solutions. These insights will be extremely useful and timely to i) design precautions and safeguards, ii) motivate new policies and instruments, iii) inform assistance services and forms of support, and iv) inspire other cities in the creation of an enabling and inclusive environment for zero-emission futures. Furthermore, the analysis reveals a substantial lack of supportive scientific literature when it comes to non-technological aspects of the transition to climate neutrality. [Display omitted] • A broad analysis of risks cities face in pursuing climate neutrality is performed. • The analysis builds on a unique survey of climate-ambitious cities. • Nine risk categories are identified and analysed. • Solutions and recommendations to design safeguards and precautions are extracted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scattered trees in wood-pastures represent outstanding conservation value by providing microhabitats for a variety of organisms. They also diversify ecosystem services by creating shade for livestock, and capturing and storing carbon. However, trees in wood-pastures are declining Europe-wide and an appropriate legal environment to maintain them is mostly lacking. Here we looked beyond the well-documented beneficial effects of trees and assessed potential ecosystem disservices, which may drive the controversial appreciation of trees. In a grazing exclusion experiment, we assessed the effect of trees on herbage production in wood-pastures from semi-arid continental to humid montane areas in the temperate deciduous forest ecoregion, and found that trees have a suppressive effect throughout the year, although herbage nutritive value, as indicated by herbage nitrogen content, seems to be improved in spring. When we up-scaled the local ecosystem disservice on herbage yield to entire wood-pastures, the loss remained below 3%, which is lower than reported gains in livestock production due to free access to shade. Thus, the motivation for the under-appreciation of trees by land managers and decision makers may lie in that trees suppress herbage production, but the importance of this effects is offset by the magnitude of the beneficial services of trees. We recommend current wood-pasture stakeholders to revisit their attitude towards scattered trees and encourage tree planting campaigns and tree-based climate mitigation strategies to consider the protection of trees in wood-pastures and the establishment of young ones in currently open pastures up to traditionally low tree cover proportions, as livestock production is unlikely to be compromised by this action. • Wood-pastures are widespread, high nature and cultural value landscapes. • Scattered trees in wood-pastures boost biodiversity and diversify ecosystem services. • In temperate deciduous forest ecoregions, they reduce sub-canopy biomass production. • When scaled up to the whole wood-pasture, the loss of biomass remains negligible. • Climate strategies are encouraged to involve scattered trees on pastureland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is a first attempt to evaluate how the major efforts made by several European cities in the frame of the Covenant of Mayors (CoM) initiative can impact the air pollution levels in the participating cities. CoM is by no mean one of the major cities initiatives aimed at mitigating climate change, supporting local authorities in the implementation of their climate action plans. Energy savings measures reported in the CoM cities' action plans have been analysed from the air quality perspective in order to find quantitative relations in the way local authorities deal with mitigation and how these practices are expected to have consequences on the air quality at urban level and finally positively impacting the citizens' health. In the paper, the air quality 2713 energy saving measures proposed by 146 cities located in 23 countries in the frame of the CoM are selected and their co-benefits for air quality and public health estimated by means of SHERPA, a fast modelling tool that mimics the behaviour of a full physically-based Chemical Transport Model. Besides evaluating the overall benefits of this subset of mitigation measures for the air quality, the study also investigates the relevance of some factors such as the implementation sector, the city size and the pollution levels in achieving the highest possible co-benefits. The results presented refer to the special field covered by the study, i.e. energy saving measures and are not automatically referable to other types of measures. Nevertheless, they clearly show how climate mitigation and air quality policies are deeply interconnected at the urban level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Driven by climate change mitigation, EU countries are committed to improve energy efficiency of their building stock by implementing the energy performance of buildings directive (EPBD). Should higher energy efficiency result in better indoor environmental quality (IEQ), this policy could also be seen as an opportunity to improve public health across Europe.Objectives: This paper focuses on the assessment of the effects of energy retrofits on occupant satisfaction with IEQ and health in multifamily buildings.Methods: Data on occupant satisfaction with IEQ and health were collected from the occupants of 39 Finnish and 15 Lithuanian multifamily buildings (an average of five apartments per building, one adult per apartment) both before and after energy retrofits (such as improving thermal insulation, windows, heating and/or ventilation systems). Parallel to the data collected from the occupants, data on several IEQ parameters, including temperature, temperature factor, and air change rate, were collected from their apartments. Moreover, data from seven Finnish and five Lithuanian non-retrofitted control buildings were collected according to the same protocol.Results: Occupant satisfaction regarding indoor temperature was associated with both retrofit status (OR 5.3, 95% CI 2.6-11.0) and measured IEQ parameters (indoor temperature OR 1.4 per 1 °C increase, temperature factor OR 1.1 per 1% increase, and air change rate OR 5.6 per 1/h increase). Additional positive associations were found between retrofit status and occupants reporting absence of upper respiratory symptoms (OR 1.8, 95% CI 1.1-2.9) as well as not missing work or school due to respiratory infections (OR 4.1, 95% CI 1.2-13.8), however, these associations were independent of the measured IEQ parameters.Conclusions: There seems to be a strong subjective component related to the observed changes in occupant satisfaction with IEQ and health as a result of energy retrofitting in buildings. Further studies are needed to verify the actual mechanisms, as well as possible long term effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid decarbonisation of the transport sector calls for increased use of biofuels. Part of the increase may be covered by fuels produced from logging residues, wood chips and round wood. This article addresses the economic potential and possible impacts of increased production of such wood based biofuels on the forest industries and production of wood based heat and power in the European Economic Area. A global model for the markets and trade of forest biomass and products, the EFI-GTM was applied for the analysis. The results indicate, firstly, that policy choices will have strong impacts on the allocation of biomass use between heat and power production and the production of liquid biofuels. Hence, the policy makers must have very clear goal setting for the preferred ways to solve the shift from the fossil fuel based energy system to a less carbon intensive one. Nevertheless, because large investments in biofuel production take time to plan and construct, and because the annual forest growth exceeds the harvests of wood in various parts of Europe, there is time to adjust the policies to control the market development. Secondly, even assuming the goal of limiting the global warming to 2 °C, the European forest industry production is projected to be rather little affected by the increased competition for biomass with the energy sector. This is because the rivalling regions are facing similar biomass demand challenges. Also, the relatively abundant wood biomass resources in Europe help the European forest industry to maintain its market shares. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The optimal forest management strategies for mitigating climate change are hotly debated during political negotiations, because afforestation and forest management can increase atmospheric CO 2 removal, and the wood produced can provide a substitute for fossil fuel. Studies quantifying the carbon balance of the forest sector apply a wide variety of management and wood-use scenarios. Some model studies include future climate change effects on forest growth, but others ignore them. Here, a conceptual empirical model of sequestration efficiency, the fraction of net primary production stored in the biosphere and anthroposhere, simulates European forest carbon pools and fluxes. The sensitivity of the sequestration efficiency of European forests was quantified by varying model parameters along the forest growth and wood transformation chain: environment and climate change, harvest intensity, rotation length, fraction of harvest residues left on site and substitution efficiency. Irrespective of the evolution of the sink, the forest sector as a whole remains a net carbon absorber in 99% of the simulations at a time horizon of 100 years, even if in 25% of the simulations the forests themselves become sources. However, if the goal is to enhance the current sequestration efficiency to mitigate emissions, only in 25% of the simulations the sink efficiency was found to be enhanced. If the current sink were to reverse to a source, no management action or change in wood use would result in an increase in the current forest sequestration efficiency. In all other cases, increasing harvest levels would lead to an increase in forest sector carbon emissions, highlighting the pivotal role of the baseline used to set the emission reduction targets. Our results show that the uncertainty on the response of European forest to climate change undermines the quest for a carbon-optimal management strategy. The uncertainty in whether climate change will maintain the current forest sink or turn it into a carbon source is largely overlooked in the debate over the best forest management strategy to reduce the growth of atmospheric CO 2 concentration, yet it is large enough to change the merit order of different alternatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• MAOM-C content was modeled for arable fields with different management. • Organic fertilization, crop rotation, and soil texture define MAOM-C content. • A POM-C/MAOM-C ratio indicator was developed and tested. • This indicator contains information on MAOM-C saturation deficits. • POM-C/MAOM-C ratio indicators might support climate mitigation strategies. Soil organic matter (SOM) is indispensable for soil health and, in the context of climate change, is considered a significant CO 2 sink. Improving agricultural management to increase long-term soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks for mitigating climate change requires tools that estimate short and long-cycling SOM pools. In this study, we analyzed changes in fast-cycling particulate organic matter (POM) and slow-cycling mineral-associated organic matter (MAOM) induced by common management practices, i.e., fertilization and crop rotation in topsoils from 25 Central European long-term field experiments. When relating MAOM-C contents to recent MAOM-C saturation levels, estimated sequestration potentials were only met in coarse-textured soils under appropriate agricultural management or fine-textured soils under extreme organic fertilization. Soil texture, organic fertilization, and below-ground OC inputs through root exudates and root biomass were decisive for estimating MAOM-C, allowing for calibration of a mixed-effects model (Nakagawa's: marginal R2 m = 0.6, conditional R2 c = 0.89). While the models containing soil texture and organic fertilization parameters can be validated and generalized (R2 = 0.43), the below-ground OC input predictor substantially decreases the generalizability of the validated models (R2 = 0.14). According to quantile regression models, we estimate the average difference in MAOM-C concentration between well-managed and control site (without organic fertilization) topsoils to 4.1 mg g−1 soil. In dependence on the soil bulk density, this amounts to 1.38 – 1.84 t ha−1 MAOM-C stocks or 5.06 – 10.1 t ha−1 CO 2 -equivalents. POM-C was difficult to predict (R2 = 0.28), presumably due to strong POM dynamics. The POM-C / MAOM-C ratio can inform on the effects of agricultural practices in before/after management change comparisons. Under increasing SOC concentration, an increasing POM-C / MAOM-C ratio indicates that the effects of organic fertilization do not transfer to real effects on long-term SOC sequestration. Because MAOM-C depends on soil texture, this ratio is also a covariate of soil texture, limiting it for comparisons between sites with different textures. However, our data indicate that agricultural long-term field experiment soils constantly approximate MAOM-C saturation when the POM-C/MAOM-C ratio is >0.35. This ratio might be used as a management goal to prevent organic over-fertilization and N loss, especially on coarse-textured soils. Thereby, the POM-C / MAOM-C ratio can help to optimize SOC management and sequestration on agricultural soils and support climate change mitigation strategies in Central Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The residential sector has been targeted as the one with a huge potential for reducing carbon emissions. In order to determine the present carbon footprint and the potential for achieving carbon neutrality, the study examines electricity consumption in average households, whose electricity is supplied by their national power grids. 31 European countries (27 EU and 4 non-EU countries) were included in this analysis. Our results indicate that the annual carbon emissions of these average households range from 0.09 to 6.44 tCO 2 e (1.36 tCO 2 e on average), depending on a country. In addition, the calculated electricity costs per tCO 2 e emission for an average household vary significantly (from 94 to 10,135 EUR/tCO 2 e).Carbon offsetting is a mechanism which enables households to achieve carbon neutrality, i.e. households can compensate for the emissions caused by their electricity consumption by purchasing voluntary carbon offsets. This study also analyses the financial implications of purchasing voluntary carbon offsets. The results indicate that voluntary carbon offsets do not burden household budgets significantly because their share in total electricity costs is small. European households, particularly those in countries where electricity is more expensive, can comfortably achieve carbon neutrality with voluntary carbon offsets. In this way, they can contribute to global sustainable development. [Display omitted] • Average carbon footprint of grid-connected household in Europe is less than 2 tCO2e. • The cost of electricity per CO2 emissions varies from 94 to 10,135 EUR/tCO2. • Voluntary carbon offset costs in electricity costs vary widely across Europe. • Carbon offsetting is a practical solution for achieving a carbon-neutral household. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The non-recyclable fraction of municipal solid waste (MSW refuse) represents over half of the total MSW production in Europe, with an energetic potential of 1250 PJ/year, a similar quantity to the current potential for energy production from agricultural residues. Currently, there are no alternative uses for MSW refuse other than landfilling or incineration. Thus, it represents an important untapped resource for biofuel production in Europe. Standard attributional LCAs have not been able to capture some of the bioenergy interactions with the climate system and neither to properly assess the climate change mitigation potential of bioenergy technologies. This study aims to fill this gap and properly assess the impact of the production of biofuels from MSW refuse on climate change by applying several methodological improvements in a time-dependent assessment, i.e., an explicit consideration of biogenic carbon flows using a dynamic LCA and an absolute formulation of the cumulative and instantaneous climate metrics. Two diverging examples of current MSW management systems are selected as references against which to assess the potential climate benefit of biofuel production: with or without dominant landfill disposal and with high or low GHG emissions from the power generation sector. The results show that in countries with current negligible landfilling, the production of biofuels would lead to a clear climate benefit. For landfill-dominant countries, the climate benefit would only be temporarily achieved in the medium term as the impact of landfills on climate decreases in the long term. However, considering a progressive banning of landfilling promoted by other policies for environmental protection and resource efficiency, the results would become positive for both countries with climate change mitigation guaranteed by using MSW refuse for biofuel production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change and CO 2 emissions intertwine corporations and society in current political, social, environmental, and economic debates, specifically in Europe. The climate action plan formulated by the European Commission aims to achieve net zero emissions through eco-innovation by 2050. The objective of this study is to investigate the impact of the European eco-innovation index on CO 2 emissions produced by European firms. Using a dataset of 735 firms from 17 European countries listed during 2010–2018, we found a significant negative association between the country-level eco-innovation index and CO 2 emissions directly produced by the European firms. We also found a significant negative association between the eco-innovation index and indirect CO 2 emissions produced by the value chain of these firms. The results provide evidence that via eco-innovation, supportive steps taken by European countries provide a conducive environment for the European firms to adopt eco-innovative strategies that significantly reduce their direct and indirect CO 2 emissions per dollar of their corporate assets and make their value chains eco-friendly. The results also reveal that financial development brings in some environmental monitoring that cultivates a supportive culture for the corporations to promote corporate efforts to reduce CO 2 emissions. • The first study that uses an eco-innovation index, based on 5 dimensions, developed by the European Commission. • We find a negative impact of country-level eco-innovation on the reduction in direct and indirect corporate CO 2 emissions. • Eco-innovation initiatives taken by the European countries are helping European firms in reducing their CO 2 emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates and evaluates the European expert's selection and conjoined degree of willingness to decrease the carbon footprint (WDC) of consuming products and services to mitigate climate change. The survey respondents were segregated into four European regions based on their nationality viz. Nordic, Baltic, and Eastern Europe (NBE), Central and South-eastern Europe (CSE), Western and southern Europe (WSE), and North-western Europe (NWE). The WDC are represented by four index categories viz. low willing, moderate willing, willing, and highly willing. The WDC indicators such as housing, food, energy, waste and transport were used to identify the trend and correlation, gender-specific density distribution, and overall regional comparison analysis. The trend and correlation analysis between energy vs. transport, waste vs. food, and a separate state of housing represented the current global carbon emission situation, where four overlapping clusters indicated the respondent's closest or similar selection at their consumption level. The gender-specific density suggests that the male respondent's average WDC for housing and food index ranges from moderate to highly willing. In contrast, the female average WDC for food, waste, energy and transport index ranges from moderate willing to willing and bimodal for other scenarios. Among the regional comparisons, NBE in housing (moderate willing to willing), CSE in food (willing to highly willing), WSE and CSE in energy and all the regions in waste management (willing to highly willing) presented better indices. In transport, Europe as a whole exhibits poor index. In case of WDC index, the regional comparison indicates that the CSE region exhibited better outcomes than the other regions, except for housing. The findings of this study will be beneficial for the common people, researchers, policymakers, and regulators to enrich their future thoughts and contributes to the development and improvement of the existing carbon reduction policies, especially in the transport sector. • Investigates the European expert's willingness to decrease carbon footprint (WDC). • Nordic, Central, & Western experts exhibited top WDC in housing, food, & energy. • In the WDC of waste, experts from all the regions presented better signs. • In the WDC of transport, all the areas showed poor index. • In general, the central part showed better WDC indices than other areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Achieving sustainability and resilience transformations under climate change requires transformative and multi-scale visions to stimulate coherent thinking and action towards radically alternative futures. We present our approach to co-produce transformative visions contextualised in different regions across Europe, while exploring emergent 'pan-European' vision elements to guide transformative climate action across scales. We co-produced visions with stakeholders in four case studies: European, national (Scotland), transboundary river basin (Iberia) and two municipalities (Hungary). All visions share core aspirations for good living, justice and social and environmental wellbeing in Europe, while allowing contextualised interpretation to remain meaningful in view of context-specific needs, priorities, cultural perceptions and aspirations. The visions point to areas where deep transformations are required: in service provisioning from critical infrastructures like energy, food, health and education, and in lifestyles and governance. We discuss two key methodological considerations for the co-production of transformative visions across multiple scales. Firstly, the application of a systematic and comprehensive framework across all scales provided a guide to compare and ensure coherence between visions across multiple scales. Secondly, the creation of transformative spaces to co-produce the visions with stakeholders supported critical reflections and learning about the radical and multi-dimensional changes necessary in different regions in Europe. • Transformative visions can be important drivers of desirable societal change. • Transformative visions need to be contextualised and coherent across scales. • A systematic framework guides coherent envisioning across multiple scales. • Transformative spaces gauge critical reflections, learning and empowerment. • Pathways can translate visions into concrete actions to support implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The extension of forest area is a globally accepted tool to offset CO 2 emissions from deforestation and the combustion of fossil fuels. The common assumption is that in addition to the perceived climate benefits increasing forest area will also support biodiversity, thus making afforestation a “win-win scenario”. Based on the existing scientific evidences, we show that joined climate and biodiversity benefits are strongly context-dependent and that the outcome of afforestation is often highly questionable. In Europe, grasslands managed at low intensity contribute substantially to biodiversity conservation and carbon storage. However, many of these grasslands have been lost due to abandonment and subsequent spontaneous succession towards woody vegetation, or due to land use intensification. Moreover, grasslands are the ecosystems most often deliberately afforested in the context of EU carbon-centered policies that may thus counteract biodiversity conservation programmes. By reviewing the main EU policies targeting forests and grasslands, we found a striking ambivalence between policies and funding schemes addressing grassland conservation on the one hand (e.g. Habitats Directive, green payments within the Common Agricultural Policy) and those supporting afforestation on the other (e.g. rural development funds). We suggest three measures towards a better harmonization of the European Union policies that target forest and grassland ecosystems: (1) promoting the alignment of the decisions taken across different policy sectors; (2) focusing on the whole range of ecosystem services and biodiversity issues rather than on carbon management only; (3) valuing systems managed at low-intensity for their multifunctionality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We introduce biogas-concrete carbon capture utilization, and storage supply chains. • These innovative supply chains have the potential to permanently remove CO 2 from the atmosphere and store it in concrete. • This climate mitigation solution is available today and can be adopted in a seamless manner. • We quantify the trade-offs between supply chains that store CO 2 in concrete and underground. Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) is a carbon dioxide removal (CDR) solution necessary to achieve net-zero-carbon-emissions goals. While the BECCS potential from large industrial emitters has been quantified, the BECCS potential of small emitters, such as biogas facilities, has not been investigated. Moreover, most BECCS solutions rely on the expected availability of large geological storage capacity for future CDR implementation, although the deployment of CO 2 transport and storage supply chains is still a barrier for geological carbon storage ambitions. An alternative opportunity for permanent sequestration of CO 2 is concrete, in which captured CO 2 can be permanently fixed through carbon dioxide mineralization technologies. We describe and discuss this solution by quantifying the potential of a European bioenergy with carbon capture, utilization, and storage (BECCUS) supply chain, which relies on biogenic CO 2 from biogas facilities as a CO 2 source, and on carbon dioxide mineralization in concrete as a permanent CO 2 sink. This solution is available today, can be adopted seamlessly, and does not need economies of scale for its deployment. We find that European biogas facilities produce 24 Mtons of biogenic CO 2 per year, of which 4 Mtons of CO 2 per year are emitted from facilities already upgrading biogas into bio-methane. We estimate that carbon dioxide mineralization in recycled concrete aggregates in Europe could permanently store up to 8 Mtons of CO 2 per year. Despite the limited storage potential, BECCUS supply chains would reduce CO 2 transportation distance and system complexity compared to BECCS supply chains, and would result in a marketable product, namely concrete. Overall, carbon dioxide mineralization in recycled concrete aggregates combines carbon utilization with permanent sequestration, hence contributing to carbon-neutrality goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simulating cropland soil carbon changes following a reduction in tillage intensity is necessary to determine the utility of this management practice in climate change mitigation. In instances where reduced or no tillage increases soil carbon stocks, this is typically due to reduced decomposition rates of plant residues. Although some soil carbon models contain a priori decomposition rate modifiers to account for tillage regime, these are typically not calibrated to specific climatic regions, and none are currently available for the Rothamsted Carbon Model (RothC). Here, we present a modelling framework to estimate a tillage rate modifier (TRM) for the decomposition rate constants in RothC-26.3 which determine decay between soil carbon pools. We demonstrate this for north-west Europe, using published data assembled through a recent systematic review with propagation of error from input parameters throughout the framework. The small magnitude of soil carbon change following a reduction in tillage intensity in this region is reflected in our TRM estimates for no-till of 0.95, with 95% Credible Intervals [0.91, 1.00], and reduced tillage of 0.93 [0.90, 0.97], relative to conventional high-intensity tillage with a default TRM of 1. These TRMs facilitate realistic simulation of soil carbon dynamics following a reduction of tillage intensity using RothC, and our simple, transparent, and repeatable modelling framework is suitable for application in other climatic regions using input data generalisable to the context of interest. • We estimate rate modifiers to capture reduced tillage in the soil carbon model RothC. • Our model is parametrised from systematic review data with propagation of error. • Our framework can be used in other regions to derive empirical rate modifiers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The near future change in productivity of photovoltaic energy (PVE) in Europe and Africa is assessed by using the climate variables simulated by the ECHAM5-HAM aerosol-climate model, and a model for the performance of photovoltaic systems. The climate simulations are forced by green-house gases emissions from the IPCC SRES B2 scenario. In addition, different scenarios for future anthropogenic aerosols emissions are applied. Thus, the sensitivity of the future PVE productivity to changes in aerosol atmospheric burdens between 2000 and 2030 is analyzed. The analysis indicates that reductions in aerosols emissions in the near future result in an increase of global warming, and a significant response in surface solar radiation and associated PVE productivity. A statistically significant reduction in PVE productivity up to 7% is observed in eastern Europe and northern Africa, while a significant increase up to 10% is observed in western Europe and eastern Mediterranean. The changes in surface solar radiation and PVE productivity are related to global effects of aerosols reduction on the large scale circulation and associated cloud cover pattern, rather than to local effects on the atmospheric optical properties. PVE assessment is then discussed in the frame of the present situation and next decades evolution of the photovoltaic market, highlighting that the effects on productivity induced by industrial and public policies, and technological development are comparable to climate related effects. The presented results encourage the improvement and further use of climate models in assessment of future renewable energies availability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diesel vehicles are one of many sources of black carbon (BC) emissions in Europe; nevertheless, due to recent changes in fuel composition towards renewable fuel such as biodiesel, advances in engine design and pollution control technology, BC and organic carbon (OC) emissions may worsen air quality and encourage global warming. As there are no regulatory terms on BC mass concentration levels, assessment of pollution sources is crucial for air quality improvement policies and mitigation of climate change. BC mass concentration and aerosol optical absorption were derived using 7-wavelenght Aethalometer during 3 measurement campaigns in 2014, 2017, and 2020. BC source apportionment analysis was performed using 18 combinations of absorption Ångström exponent (AAE) values for assessing BC to fossil fuel combustion and biomass burning. The choice of the most suitable AAE combination (0.9 and 2.2, respectively) was supported by organic aerosol (OA) source apportionment results. AAE value for transport exhaust emission (0.95) from locally available diesel fuel was established using (CI) 1.9 TDI engine with different engine torque regimes and 7-wavelenght Aethalometer. Statistically and experimentally obtained values were compared and showed great agreement. Subsequently, a statistically obtained AAE tr value was used for BC source apportionment and long-term analysis. A significant increase in the contribution of transport-related BC contribution was observed between years 2014 and 2020 (from 51% to 65%) which was associated with a boost in the use of diesel vehicles (by 83.9% of diesel passenger cars comparing 2014 and 2020) and growing diesel fuel consumption. These findings underline the diesel transport-induced problem for local air quality together with its impact on atmospheric radiative balance and raise concerns for public health. • The choice of AAE combination was supported by OA source apportionment results. • BC source apportionment revealed increasing trend of transport-related pollution. • A significant increase in BC tr light absorption was observed during 2014–2020. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) constitute an emerging energy transition paradigm, with an ambitious timeline for rapid upscaling to match the urgency of climate mitigation and adaptation. Increasingly networked and coordinated actors aim to realise 100 PEDs across Europe by 2025. This resonates with the mission orientation turn of the European Green New Deal, to inspire and enable target-driven innovation. Yet it raises questions that have long perplexed scholars and practitioners in energy transitions: how can rapid diffusion be achieved in a sustained and replicable manner in diverse socio-technical contexts? Identifying the key questions to address and implement fit-to-purpose solutions within short-term project timescales is essential in order to mainstream PEDs. Such solutionism must be accompanied by a healthy dose of scepticism, in order to avoid undesirable outcomes such as exacerbated inequalities, societal backlash, and spatial displacement of invisible burdens. But it also requires proactive sharing of experiences, responsive learning and dissemination, and cooperation across sectors and disciplines. In this timely contribution, thirteen researchers from nine European countries flag ten questions concerning PEDs, and offer preliminary responses in line with cutting-edge insights informed by science and practice. This contribution draws on multidisciplinary competence in steering the Positive Energy Districts European Network, and aims to make emerging knowledge widely available, while also inviting constructive critique and engagement within the PED arena which features a broad range of diverse stakeholders. Authors highlight key pathways forward for a rapid, far-reaching translation of the ambitious PEDs agenda into multi-sited, district-scale beacons of sustainable energy transition. • Reflects upon emergent challenges and opportunities of developing PEDs in Europe. • Combines attention to rapid implementation, context-specificity and replicability. • Identifies three key themes to enable conditions for upscaling PEDs across contexts. • The key themes are: framework conditions, prefiguration and emerging impact of PEDs. • Combines expertise of PED-EU-NET core group, spanning PED initiatives across Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We predict climate change hotspots and coldspots based on climate change velocity in Europe. • Velocities are projected highest in the Continental region, lowest in the Mediterranean region. • The Alpine region will likely contain largest areal proportions of hotspots, the Mediterranean region largest proportions of coldspots. • Natura 2000 area overlapping with hotspots is largest in the Alpine region, with coldspots much smaller in any region. • The outcomes suggest climate-smart conservation prioritization across Europe and the Natura 2000 network. Anthropogenic climate change is challenging biodiversity conservation worldwide. Climate change metrics derived from future climate predictions help to assess potential impacts of climate change on biodiversity. Here we calculated future climate change velocities across biogeographical regions of terrestrial Europe and the Natura 2000 protected area network, the largest protected area network on Earth. We applied climate projections for the year 2070, considering two emission scenarios, six global climate models and a fine spatial resolution. Areas with very high climate change velocity were identified as climate change hotspots, while areas with very low velocity were recognized as coldspots. We further revealed where and to what extent climate change hotspots and coldspots coincide with Natura 2000 sites. We found that climate change velocities are projected highest in the Continental and Boreal regions, and lowest in the Mediterranean and Anatolian regions. However, the Alpine region will likely contain largest areal proportions of climate change hotspots, while areal proportions of coldspots are projected largest in the Mediterranean region. High mountain regions such as the Alps show a high proportion of Natura 2000 sites that coincide with climate change hotspots. Both, hotspots and coldspots, are geographically associated with areas of topographic diversity. Low topographical diversity indicates high climate change exposure. The impact of hotspots increases with spatial isolation. Oceanic climate buffers climate change exposure in contrast to continental climate. However, continental regions of Europe tend to exhibit less spatial isolation. We recommend conservation action in climate change hotspots and coldspots to simultaneously protect the most climate-exposed biodiversity as well as climate change refugia. Climate change hotspots and coldspots overlapping with Natura 2000 sites should be considered priority conservation sites because new protected areas are hard to realize in densely populated landscapes of Europe. This study directs European conservation management and policy towards meeting international conservation goals in a climate-smart way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Climate mitigation policies in Europe call for an extensive build-up of renewable power, which will increase from 320 GW in 2012 to 536 GW by 2020. The renewable expansion will mainly consist of the installation of new wind and solar power plants, which require additional transmission lines. The European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity estimates that 45,300 km of new or upgraded lines are necessary in the region over the next decade to accommodate the renewable power sources. Building a grid for renewables will help Europe achieve its climate goals, but other resulting environmental impacts have not yet been quantified. In this article a LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) for the transmission grid expansion is performed. The results show that the grid extension projects correspond to a total impact of 10.7 Mton CO2 eq. and 11.2 Mton Fe eq. Electricity transmission in Europe in 2020 will be more material intensive, requiring about 10% more metal inputs per kWh than today. Manufacturing processes for the production of transmission equipment are important for some impacts categories, particularly water depletion. Finally, a sensitivity analysis regarding recycling rates indicates that the results in some impact categories present great variation depending on the rates assumed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

[Display omitted] Sustainable Development Goal #7 calls for "access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all." Scientific evidence is growing that greenhouse-gas emissions have a noticeable effect on the earth's climate. Many purpose-built post-war social housing estates in Europe that form high-density residential-tower blocks, however, do not meet current stringent energy-efficiency standards. As a result, many of these structures are under threat of overheating and require careful planning to implement holistic energy subsidisation schemes. This article presents a setup of building energy performance framework that was developed according to the in-situ measurements of building-fabric thermal structure to asset robust energy performance evaluation and certification schemes in the residential sector. This empirical study examines social householders' electricity reliability in accordance with assessing overheating risk of housing stock in South-eastern Europe where the weather is subtropical (Csa) and partly semi-arid (Bsh). It also investigates the gap between as-designed and as-built energy performances. The findings for thermal anomalies resulted from air infiltration through the building fabric, and a lack of natural ventilation through living spaces and excessive heat gains through sizeable and glazed areas. On a typical hot summer day, the internal temperatures of the simulated condominiums remained high throughout the day and night, ranging from a minimum 28.5 °C to a maximum 36.5 °C. Insights from this empirical study improve the national energy network and subsidisation schemes in Europe. The energy policy and regulations would benefit from conceptual level analysis and planning prioritisation in accordance with the climate characteristics of each EU-27-member state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Synthetic natural gas (SNG) by CO 2 electroreduction (ER) is matched to natural gas. • Significant CO 2 savings with SNG are possible under moderate ER performance. • Only high ER energy efficiencies (>60%) can lead to manageable OPEX. • By-product valorization or higher carbon taxes may be needed for profitability. Capture and utilization of industrial CO 2 emissions into low-carbon fuels is a promising alternative to store renewable electricity into chemical vectors while decarbonizing the economy. This work evaluates the viability pathways of producing synthetic natural gas (SNG) by direct CO 2 electroreduction (ER) in Power-To-Synthetic Natural Gas electrolyzers (PtSNG). We perform an ex-ante techno-economic (TEA) and life cycle analysis (LCA) for a 2030 framework in Europe. ER performance is varied in defined scenarios and assessed using a built-in process model of the PtSNG system, revealing uncharted limitations and benchmarks to achieve. Results show that substitution of fossil natural gas with renewable SNG could avoid more than 1 kg CO 2e /kg SNG under moderate ER conditions when using low-carbon electricity (< 60 kg CO 2e /MWh). SNG profitability for 2030 would rely on: i) higher CH 4 current densities (800–1000 mA/cm2), ii) improvements in energy efficiency (higher than 60%), and iii) valorization of the anodic product or additional carbon incentives. Our study proves that if market and technology evolve appropriately in the coming years, the SNG by CO 2 ER may be a mid-term climate change mitigation technology, among others. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Spatial and socioeconomic predictors for climate change (CC) attitudes were examined. • Certain dimensions of CC attitudes are associated with regional population change. • All dimensions of CC attitudes show a strong educational gradient. • CC attitudes and efficacy are socioeconomically stratified and spatially determined. Climate change views have their socioeconomic foundations but also specific geographies. In merging these perspectives, this analysis uses ESS Round 8 data from 23 European countries to examine whether climate change scepticism and concern, pro-environmental personal norm and a willingness to engage in energy-saving behaviour exhibit, first, urban–rural and/or regional differences, and second, if these attitudes can be explained at individual level by socioeconomic position and wellbeing resources. We find that climate change scepticism and concern do exhibit urban–rural differences, where living in a country village is associated with greater climate scepticism and lower concern compared to living in a big city. Also, higher climate change concern and pro-environmental norms are associated with living in a region with constant population growth. These geographical differences are independent of individual-level socioeconomic attributes as well as one's political orientation. Additionally, the results show that both climate change attitudes and reporting energy-saving behaviour are strongly stratified by level of education and reveal that those in lower income deciles feel less pro-environmental norm but nonetheless report greater engagement with energy-saving behaviour. In sum, the results highlight that climate change mitigation is not a uniform project either spatially or within certain socioeconomic strata. Hence, our results suggest that socioeconomic disadvantage (belonging to the lowest education and income levels) and spatial marginalisation (living in more rural surroundings and declining regions) should be better acknowledged when reworking climate change and environmental policies in the EU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Purpose: This paper aims at indicating the potential of agricultural measures in sequestering carbon as an option for climate change mitigation. The related value for society is estimated. Principle results: Agricultural practices like agroforestry, introducing hedges, low and no tillage and cover crops have an important potential to increase carbon sequestration. The total technical potential in the EU-27 is estimated to be 1566milliontonnesCO2-equivalent per year. This corresponds to 37% of all CO2-equivalent emissions in the EU in 2007. The introduction of agroforestry is the measure with the highest potential, i.e. 90% of the total potential of the measures studied. Taking account only of the value for climate change mitigation, the introduction of agroforestry is estimated to have a value of 282euro/ha in 2012 that will gradually increase to 1007euro/ha in 2030. Major conclusions: This implies that there is a huge potential which represents an important value for society in general and for the agricultural sector in specific. At the European level, only in the last few years policy makers have recognized the important benefits of agroforestry. In their rural development programmes some European countries now support farmers to introduce agroforestry. But still the current level of support is only a small fraction of the societal value of agroforestry. If this value would be fully recognized by internalizing the positive externality, we expect that agroforestry will be introduced to a very large extent in the next decades, in Europe and the rest of the world, and this will importantly change the rural landscapes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The climate mitigation benefits of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) relative to internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs) are highly dependent on the carbon intensity of the electricity consumed during their production and use-phase. A consistent and dynamic approach to grid-mix regionalization of BEV life-cycle assessments in Europe is therefore necessary to offer accurate guidance to consumers and policy makers. To this end, we present ReDyFEV, a simple open-source software tool that can be used to calculate attributional, regionalized lifecycle climate impacts of BEVs in Europe for user-defined time periods, including near real-time. We determine the national lifecycle carbon footprints across all EU states for four BEV size segments and compare them to those of fossil-fuelled vehicles of similar sizes. Simplified sensitivity analyses investigate the effect of lifetime assumptions, electricity demand in battery production, and of relocating battery production to Europe on the carbon footprints of BEVs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Electrification is an attractive option to reduce CO 2 emissions from transport. • Alternative electrification options differ in terms of impact on the energy system. • Indirect electrification might result in a critical burden on the supply sector. • Policies addressing consumer preferences are crucial to trigger mobility shift. There is a wide consensus that a fundamental technology shift within the light duty vehicles (LDVs) sector is necessary to achieve the emissions reductions required for the Paris Agreement's targets, but substantial controversy prevails about the most suitable strategy. While some decision makers favor a transition to battery electric vehicles, others advocate for fuel cell vehicles and e-fuels. These strategies differ markedly in terms of consumer acceptance and implications for the energy system. We explore a range of electrification pathways in Europe until 2050. Direct electrification leads to a strong reduction in direct CO 2 emissions of LDVs, with electric vehicles reaching 90% of sales in 2050. Indirect electrification places substantially higher pressure on the supply sector, with almost double the primary energy demand relative to direct electricity use. In addition, the implementation of complementary policies addressing perceived inconvenience markups for alternative mobility is crucial to initiate the mobility transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents results of an assessment of the linkages between regional air pollution and climate change in Europe (the AIR-CLIM Project). The main research tool was an integrated modeling framework and the main product was a consistent set of long-term scenarios covering Europe between 1995 and 2100. Scenarios consisted of trends in emissions, acid deposition, nitrogen deposition and climate change. Critical loads and critical levels were used to assess the impacts of deposition to forest soils and a new analogous concept of “critical climate change” was developed to assess the impacts of climate change. Taking into consideration the limitations of the scope and models used in the study, preliminary conclusions were: (1) regional air pollution and climate change may be fairly weakly coupled in the natural environment, i.e. climate change was not found to have a large impact on the sensitivity of forest ecosystems to regional air pollution, nor on the distribution of deposition; nor did regional air pollution (in the form of sulfate aerosols) have a significant impact on climate change in Europe; (2) however, regional air pollution and climate change may be strongly coupled in the “policy” environment. It was estimated that virtually all of Europe at mid-century might be affected by either regional air pollution or climate change, or both, and this will require a strong policy response. Moreover, the indirect effects of climate policies were found to reduce the costs of controlling air pollution emissions by more than 50%, suggesting a strong potential financial linkage between policies to reduce greenhouse gas and air pollution emissions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Tree breeding is rarely included in a debate on forest C sequestration. • Provenances of Scots pine and Norway spruce vary in growth and C accumulation. • Increased C sequestration in forest stands is possible through selective breeding. • Pure spruce stands in central Europe are not likely to add to climate change mitigation. The area of planted forests increases worldwide and those forests have a potential to contribute to climate change mitigation. Often the genetically improved planting material is used for reforestation, but its potential to accumulate more carbon (C) in biomass through enhanced or faster growth is not fully appreciated. The aim of this study was to investigate variation among native Scots pine and Norway spruce populations in terms of their growth and ability to accumulate C in standing aboveground biomass when transferred into non-local environments. For that purpose we modeled aboveground C in a series of replicated provenance experiments with both species at the age close to half of the rotation. We used the sets of allometric equations and compared the obtained estimates of accumulated C between experimental series and the commercial reference stands of the same species and age. Significant variation in aboveground C accumulation was found among examined populations, that reached up to 91% for Scots pine and 74% for Norway spruce, depending on testing site. The site-averaged estimates of C accumulation varied between 74.0 (±2.1 s.e.) and 120.0 (±3.7) Mg ha−1 for Scots pine at age 52, and between 37.4 (±3.7) and 184.4 (±5.9) Mg ha−1 for Norway spruce at age 47–53. Those values would be by 23% lower or by 25% higher for pine, and from 9% lower to 11% higher for spruce, depending on the allometric equation used. The accumulated aboveground C was not significantly different at the research sites compared to the nearby reference stands when accounting for differences in stand density. Norway spruce experimental stands had a reduced stand density because of the damage by wind and insects. Those stresses and the observed trends of decreasing stand productivity for spruce populations when transferred to warmer and drier conditions would jeopardize the ability of pure spruce stands to contribute to climate change mitigation in the future. Norway spruce would likely benefit from planting in mixtures with other tree species for increased stand stability and resistance. The results of our study indicate a possibility to increase C sequestration in forest stands through selective breeding, perhaps linking it with protection of natural forests as an option for climate change mitigation. For increased C sequestration in planted forests the use of seed sources which accumulate biomass faster and in a greater amount would need to be combined with silvicultural operations that maintain proper stand density and structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• carbon uptake by above-ground biomass is higher in unmanaged beech stands. • thinning does not alter growth-climate sensitivity. • resistance to extreme weather events decreases with increasing tree productivity. • close-to-nature forestry may be preferable at sites with higher incidence of heat and drought events. European beech plays a prominent role in the adaptation of European forests to and mitigation of climate change. Forest management may increase the mitigation potential of beech forests by accelerating carbon accumulation in tree biomass, but little is known about the interaction between the rate of biomass expansion in beech and its sensitivity to climate variation or its resistance to extreme drought episodes. A 60-year thinning experiment in beech forests in Central Europe was used to generate tree-ring width series describing past radial growth of dominant, co-dominant and sub-dominant beech trees. Randomisation applied to daily climate data was used to find the period of the year during which climate best explains beech growth. Results show that carbon uptake by above-ground biomass is higher in unmanaged stands and that thinning does not affect beech growth sensitivity to climate. Further, this study shows that average daily temperature amplitude and precipitation in March-July are the best predictors of radial growth in beech at lower-elevation sites. In a key finding, this research shows that site quality and thinning intensity increase tree size, which in turn lowers their resistance to drought. Using forest management to increase the productivity of European beech may thus increase its vulnerability to climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• EU Rivers' capacity to dilute wastewater treatment plants discharges is assessed • Climate change will lead to a dilution factor decrease for 11% of the EU rivers • 42% of the rivers will downgrade their ecological status due to climate change • More vulnerable sites are located in the Mediterranean countries Impacts from urban wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) to receiving riverine surface water bodies (SWBs) depend on the load of contaminants discharged, as well as on their dilution capacity. Yet, climate change impacts on such dilution capacity and ultimately on the SWBs ecological status remain unclear. Here, we assess SWBs dilution capacity across the European continent to identify most vulnerable areas using information from centralized European databases. SWBs´ future dilution factor values are estimated based on representative concentration pathway scenarios impacts on rivers flow, and likely changes in European SWBs´ ecological status foretold. Results show that dilution factor in Europe increases by 5.4% in average. Yet, climate change effects are found to lead to a consistent dilution factor decrease for 11% of the 40074 European SWBs receiving WWTP discharge for the early century. This share reaches 17% for the midcentury period. We estimate that up to 42% of the SWBs receiving WWTP discharges and currently reaching a good ecological status show a 0.7 probability to have their ecological status downgraded due to climate change. Sites more vulnerable are located in the Mediterranean countries. Our findings highlight that climate change mitigation is essential for maintaining good ecological status in European SWBs. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • 9.4 billion m2 of walls and roofs need to be built or renovated in EU by 2050. • The shift to biobased solutions would require 14–37 Mt of bio-products per year. • The whole annual demand of straw and wood for construction can be covered. • The current land for growing hemp and cork is not sufficient for construction. • Straw results the most promising material due to its high carbon storage potential. The renovation and construction of buildings presents an opportunity for climate change mitigation in urban environments. Bio-based construction is particularly promising since the plant's sequestered carbon offsets the building's carbon emissions. However, the required land to cultivate suitable biomass and the feasibility of environmentally sustainable materials for resilient cities should be understood. This study analyzes timber, straw, hemp and cork construction and renovation in Europe. A prediction-based model, tuned-up on four systems (built environment, natural environment, carbon balance, industrial processing), converts construction activities until 2050 into required material, embodied land and carbon storage. A novel material-land nexus concept analyzes the required land for bio-based construction. Land transformation is not analyzed. The aim is to evaluate the biomass supply considering the current cross-sectoral use of land in Europe. The results indicate that current forests and wheat plantations are more than sufficient for supplying construction materials. Straw seems better than timber, in terms of resource availability and carbon storage potential. Cork is only favorable locally in southern dry countries. The current legal limitations hinder hemp's potential at a large scale. A wider application of bio-based materials remains unrealistic until an appropriate legal framework is provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The expected increased share of renewables due to the ongoing energy transition may reduce the estimated potential mitigation effect of wood. Here, we estimated the climate change mitigation effect for five scenarios of wood products use in Europe applying dynamic substitution factors embracing a future energy mix with an increasing share of renewables in accordance with the emission reductions necessary to achieve the Paris Agreement targets. Our innovative modelling approach also included the elimination of eternal recycling loops, the inclusion of more realistic wood use cascading scenarios, and adoption of a more realistic marginal (ceteris paribus) substitution approach. Results show that the mitigation effect derived from material substitution is 33% lower in 2030 than previously predicted, and even 96% lower in 2100, showing its expiry date by the end of the century. Nevertheless, the mitigation effect of wood product use, in addition to mitigation by forests, may represent 3.3% of the European emission reduction targets by 2030. [Display omitted] • A dynamic modelling approach was used to simulate carbon balance in wood products. • Policies should promote the use of long-lived wood products and cascade chains. • Mitigation effect from substitution 33% lower in 2030 than previously predicted. • Mitigation effect from substitution 96% lower in 2100 than previously predicted. • Mitigation by substitution has an expiry date by the end of the century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Decision-making survey on motivations, challenges and targets in forest management. • Respondents focus on climate change, biodiversity loss and forest regeneration. • Managers need to consider role of herbaceous understory to address these issues. • Requirement for a decision support tool that accounts for understory dynamics. Numerous decision-makers have an interest in how forest biodiversity and functioning will alter under environmental change. These decision-makers may have varied motivations underlying their management response to environmental change by focusing on contrasting management challenges and targets. Decision-makers may use different tools to aid their decision-making when facing uncertainty. We specifically investigate whether decision-makers in forest management across Europe consider the understory (i.e. herbaceous layer) in decision making, as this component constitutes the vast majority of floral biodiversity in temperate forests, and has an important functional role. To address this question, we distributed an online questionnaire to more than 800 forest management decision-makers across Europe, and received 100 completed responses. We assess what objectives drive management decisions, and whether these are consistent depending on respondents' occupations. Interestingly, regardless of respondent profile, biodiversity loss and climate change are expected to permeate management decisions in the coming decades, motivated primarily by a sense of environmental protection. Priority management targets did not vary across respondent profiles (i.e. occupation) either, and focused on biodiversity values, adaptation and mitigation to climate change, and forest regeneration. The majority of respondents identified the understory as an "Important" target for forest management decisions. Respondents used a mix of personal experience and literature sources to base management decisions on, while infrequently using recognised decision support systems (DSS). No utilised system considered the understory at the moment. Indeed, our review of available forest management DSS, conducted in parallel to the questionnaire, shows that an understory DSS tool, especially one that can consider changing socio-environmental conditions, is lacking for decision-makers. Based on (1) forest management decision-makers' wide concern around biodiversity loss, climate change and forest regeneration, (2) the known functional role of temperate forest understories, and (3) an apparent lack of existing DSS with an understory component, we identify the requirement for an agile tool that accounts for understory dynamics. Such a tool, especially when integrated into existing DSS, will strongly support decision-makers in their quest to attain more biodiverse, functional and resilient forests for the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A trans -scalar analysis of architectural issues relating to passive solar heating through glazing. • A global estimation of the potential for passive solar heating in Europe. • A multi-criteria comparative analysis of the efficiency of different types of glazing. • An investigation of the carbon and energy payback times according to the properties of glazing. • An economic analysis using a novel method based on the levelized cost of energy. Glazing transparency provides buildings with valuable solar energy during periods of colder weather, thus contributing to the mitigation of climate change. However, this same transparency also leads to heat loss which can offset heat gains. Although the use of insulated glazing addresses this challenge by multiplying the number of glass panes, at the same time it reduces the solar factor and thus the heating potential. This article aims to estimate the potential for passive solar heating in Europe according to the energy performance of glazing. This potential is undoubtedly a valuable resource for sustainable architecture. However, an analysis based on regional weather conditions shows a wide disparity in the energy savings that can be expected from a south-facing facade. These savings are most often well below a building's average energy consumption and so a balance has to be found between the thermal resistance and the solar factor of glazing. In addition, the carbon footprint and cost of the most efficient glazing can considerably extend the environmental and economic payback time of a retrofit. This research shows that the potential for passive solar heating is significant but only as long as each architectural situation is analysed according to its specific context and function. This potential would be even greater if windows were designed and used as adjustable facade elements to suit variations in weather and use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]