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Integrating peatland restoration measures with climate policy is critical for meeting climate targets, but the current policies often fall short of utilizing the large potential that exists. Despite growing private sector interest, few regional voluntary carbon markets for peatlands have emerged worldwide. In this study, we explore three pioneering examples from Europe. From the perspective of social innovation, we aim to provide clarity on how these innovations emerged and developed, which actors drove the innovation process by assuming which roles, and which factors fostered or hindered the development. We do so by mapping the innovation process using Process Net-Map. The results show that all three cases have followed remarkably similar patterns in their innovation processes. Four phases, i.e. preparation, definition, refinement, and up-scaling were identified, as were actors' roles as innovators, promoters, intermediaries, implementers, and knowledge providers. However, the case studies are very different with regard to which actor constellation drove the innovation process: MoorFutures is driven by public and scientific actors, Valuta vor Veen is promoted by civil society actors in consultation with practitioners, and Hiilipörssi shifted from civil society to private actors. The governance modes, that is, actor constellation and their goals, have led to differences in concept, robustness of methodology, mitigation measure, and possibly potential for up-scaling. Our study indicates that the timing of interventions when actors with certain roles stepped in can accelerate the innovation process. Important political, economic, technical, and social factors influencing the innovation process, especially knowledge and trust accumulated between some key actors, are outlined. Private funding for regional voluntary carbon markets (VCMs) can tap the climate mitigation potential from peatlands, which is not currently adequately addressed by governments. Actor constellation drove the innovation process, leading to different concepts, methodologies, and mitigation measures. The timing of interventions by actors, notably providing seed funding, network, expertise and visibility, was critical for success. Building trust for regional VCMs requires not only a robust methodology to calculate emission reductions but also partnership and endorsement. The future development of climate policy on peatlands could be a decisive factor in regional VCMs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although cities have risen to prominence as climate actors, emissions' data scarcity has been the primary challenge to evaluating their performance. Here we develop a scalable, replicable machine learning approach for evaluating the mitigation performance for nearly all local administrative areas in Europe from 2001-2018. By combining publicly available, spatially explicit environmental and socio-economic data with self-reported emissions data from European cities, we predict annual carbon dioxide emissions to explore trends in city-scale mitigation performance. We find that European cities participating in transnational climate initiatives have likely decreased emissions since 2001, with slightly more than half likely to have achieved their 2020 emissions reduction target. Cities who report emissions data are more likely to have achieved greater reductions than those who fail to report any data. Despite its limitations, our model provides a replicable, scalable starting point for understanding city-level climate emissions mitigation performance. Since the Paris Agreement recognized in 2015 cities have pledged climate actions that often exceed the scope and ambition of their national governments' policies but there is scant evidence of these actions' outcomes, largely because of the lack of reported emissions data. Here the authors utilize spatially explicit datasets relevant to urban carbon emissions and self-reported emissions data from European cities, and develops a machine-learning approach to predict and explore trends in city-scale mitigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unlocking the full potential of ponds (small water bodies) and pondscapes (network of ponds) as Nature-based Solutions (NbS) is critical pursuit for enhancing ecosystems and societal resilience to climate change and other societal challenges. Despite scattered initiatives for pond/pondscape creation, restoration and management—each considered here a distinct NbS—there is a significant knowledge gap in utilising ponds/pondscapes as effective NbS. We aimed to assess these NbS in terms of their objectives, outcomes, effectiveness, multifunctionality, delivery of potentially conflicting effects, and the implementation process while considering their Nature's Contributions to People (NCPs, i.e., benefits to society). We compiled data on 183 NbS actions implemented across 93 ponds/pondscapes from 24 countries, predominantly from Europe, via a questionnaire distributed to experienced stakeholders implementing NbS in ponds/pondscapes. One single pond/pondscape may imply more than one NbS action. Two-thirds were in rural areas, and one-third in urban settings. Our analysis revealed that Creation of habitat for biodiversity was a primary delivery objective (targeted NCP) in the implementation of most NbS in ponds/pondscapes, often also combined with other NCPs such as Learning and inspiration , Regulation of water quantity , and Physical and psychological experiences , showcasing their intended multifunctionality. Implemented NbS primarily focused on climate change adaptation (especially Regulation of hazards and extreme events , and water quantity) rather than mitigation, with less emphasis on measures like direct greenhouse gas emissions reduction or enhancing carbon sinks. The costs associated with pond's NbS varied significantly depending on factors such as project scope, objectives, location, socio-economic-cultural system, and specific implementation requirements. The creation of ponds/pondscapes often entailed the highest financial investment, much more than their restoration or their management. In conclusion, our study underscores the multifunctionality of ponds/pondscapes and provides insights about their significant potential as cost-effective NbS for enhancing ecosystem and societal resilience to climate change and biodiversity. It underscores the importance of further research to fully understand and measure the diverse range of NbS they offer, particularly in the context of climate change mitigation. Standardised measurements of the NCP provided by these NbS in ponds/pondscapes are essential for validating managers' claims and exploring their role in addressing climate change. Cascading Benefits of Natural-Based Solutions (NbS) in Ponds and Pondscapes: Ponds and pondscapes serve as multifunctional NbS, delivering multiple Nature's Contributions to People (NCPs) to address climate-related challenges and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). They regulate the water quantity, mitigating flood risks, and ensuring water availability during droughts. Furthermore, these NbS indirectly support climate change adaptation by preserving microclimates, buffering temperature fluctuations, and providing vital habitats for diverse species, enhancing ecosystem resilience. Simultaneously, these actions offer recreational, cultural, educational, and well-being benefits to local communities impacted by climate change. Despite their potential, the capacity of ponds and pondscapes for climate change mitigation through carbon sequestration and storage remains unknown, requiring further exploration. [Display omitted] • Global study of 183 Nature-based Solutions in ponds/pondscapes in 24 countries. • Pondscapes' Nature-based Solutions are multifunctional and prioritise biodiversity. • Emphasis on climate change adaptation rather than mitigation. • Ponds/pondscapes offer cost-effective Nature-based Solutions. • Need for standardised measures to validate claims and explore climate mitigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The management of Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) is a critical component of both nature-based solutions for climate change mitigation and global food security. Agriculture has contributed substantially to a reduction in global SOC through cultivation, thus there has been renewed focus on management practices which minimize SOC losses and increase SOC gain as pathways towards maintaining healthy soils and reducing net greenhouse gas emissions. Mechanistic models are frequently used to aid in identifying these pathways due to their scalability and cost-effectiveness. Yet, they are often computationally costly and rely on input data that are often only available at coarse spatial resolutions. Herein, we build statistical meta-models of a multifactorial crop model in order to both (a) obtain a simplified model response and (b) explore the biophysical determinants of SOC responses to management and the geospatial heterogeneity of SOC dynamics across Europe. Using 5600 unique simulations of crop growth from the gridded Environmental Policy Integrated Climate-based Gridded Agricultural Model (EPIC-IIASA GAM) covering 86,000 simulation units across Europe, we build multiple polynomial regression ensemble meta-models for unique combinations of climate and soil across Europe in order to predict SOC responses to varying management intensities. We find that our biophysically-explicit meta models are highly accurate (R2 = 0.97) representations of the full mechanistic model and can be used in lieu of the full EPIC-IIASA GAM model for the estimation of SOC responses to cropland management. Model stratification by means of climate and soil clustering improved the performance of the meta-models compared to the full EU-scale model. In regional and local validations of the meta-model predictions, we find that the meta-models largely capture broad SOC dynamics such as the linear nature of SOC responses to residue application, yet they often underestimate the magnitude of SOC responses to management. Furthermore, we find notable differences between the results from the biophysically-specific models throughout Europe, which point to spatially-distinct SOC responses to management choices such as nitrogen fertilizer application rates and residue retention that illustrate the potential for these models to be used for future management applications. While more accurate input data, calibration, and validation will be needed to accurately predict SOC change, we demonstrate the use of our meta-models for biophysical cluster and field study scale analyses of broad SOC dynamics with basically zero fine-tuning of the models needed. This work provides a framework for simplifying large-scale agricultural models and identifies the opportunities for using these meta-models for assessing SOC responses to management at a variety of scales. • Meta-model approach used to simplify process based crop model. • Exploration of the determinants of soil organic carbon responses to management. • Meta-model predictions validated with regional and local data. • Meta-models largely capture broad dynamics, underestimate magnitude of responses. • More accurate input data, calibration, and validation needed to improve accuracy. [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 article analyses the interactions between agricultural policy measures in the EU and the factors affecting GHG emissions from agriculture on the one hand, and the adaptation of agriculture to climate change on the other. To this end, the article uses Slovenia as a case study, assessing the extent to which Slovenian agricultural policy is responding to the challenges of climate change. All agricultural policy measures related to the 2007–2013 programming period were analysed according to a new methodological approach that is based on a qualitative (expert evaluation) and a quantitative (budgetary transfers validation) assessment. A panel of experts reached consensus on the key factors through which individual measures affect climate change, in which direction and how significantly. Data on budgetary funds for each measure were used as weights to assess their relative importance. The results show that there are not many measures in (Slovenian) agricultural policy that are directly aimed at reducing GHG emissions from agriculture or at adaptation to climate change. Nevertheless, most affect climate change, and their impact is far from negligible. Current measures have both positive and negative impacts, but overall the positive impacts prevail. Measures that involve many beneficiaries and more budgetary funds had the strongest impact on aggregate assessments. In light of climate change, agricultural policy should pay more attention to measures that are aimed at raising the efficiency of animal production, as it is the principal source of GHG emissions from agriculture. Policy relevance Agricultural policy must respond to climate challenges and climate change impact assessment must be included in the process of forming European agricultural policy. Agricultural policy measures that contribute to the reduction of emissions and adaptation, whilst acting in synergy with other environmental, economic and social goals, should be promoted. The approach used in this study combines qualitative and quantitative data, yielding an objective assessment of the climate impact of agricultural policy measures and providing policy makers with a tool for eitherex anteorex postevaluations of climate-relevant policy measures. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Globally, efforts are underway to reduce anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions and to adapt to climate change impacts at the local level. However, there is a poor understanding of the relationship between city strategies on climate change mitigation and adaptation and the relevant policies at national and European level. This paper describes a comparative study and evaluation of cross-national policy. It reports the findings of studying the climate change strategies or plans from 200 European cities from Austria, Belgium, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom. The study highlights the shared responsibility of global, European, national, regional and city policies. An interpretation and illustration of the influences from international and national networks and policy makers in stimulating the development of local strategies and actions is proposed. It was found that there is no archetypical way of planning for climate change, and multiple interests and motivations are inevitable. Our research warrants the need for a multi-scale approach to climate policy in the future, mainly ensuring sufficient capacity and resource to enable local authorities to plan and respond to their specific climate change agenda for maximising the management potentials for translating environmental challenges into opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Integrative mitigation and adaptation strategies are needed to counter climate change. Indicators can be valuable that focus on the specific relevance of cities' socioeconomic and spatial properties. While previous analyses have identified socioeconomic influences on urban greenhouse gas emissions, information about the role of spatial urban structures and land use and land cover patterns is sparse. Objective: This study advances the use of spatial metrics for analyzing the linkages between the spatial properties of a city and its greenhouse gas emissions. Methods: The relationship between nine types of spatial structure, four land use and land cover-based indicators, and the emissions of 52 European cities is investigated by spatially and statistically analyzing high resolution data from European Union's 'Urban Atlas'. Results: Spatial determinants of urban greenhouse gas emissions are identified, indicating a strong connection between urban sprawl and increasing emissions. In particular, high amounts of sparsity in the urban fabric within large distances to the city center relate to increased per capita emissions. Thus, a 10 % reduction of very low density urban fabrics is correlated with 9 % fewer emissions per capita. In contrast, high amounts of fragmented, dense urban patches relate with lower emissions. Conclusions: This study links urban spatial properties and land use and land cover compositions to greenhouse gas emissions and advances the understanding of urban sprawl. Future research needs to combine knowledge about socioeconomic drivers with information about the identified spatial influences of urban greenhouse gas emissions to help cities realize their climate change mitigation potential. [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]

In Europe, regions in the Mediterranean area share common characteristics in terms of high sensitivity to climate change impacts. Does this translate into specificities regarding climate action that could arise from these Mediterranean characteristics? This paper sheds light on regional and local climate mitigation actions of the Mediterranean Europe, focusing on the plans to reduce greenhouse gases emissions in a representative sample of 51 regions and 73 cities across 9 Mediterranean countries (Croatia, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain). The study investigates: (i) the availability of local and regional mitigation plans, (ii) their goals in term of greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets on the short and medium-long term, and (iii) the impact of transnational climate networks on such local and regional climate mitigation planning. Results of this study indicate an uneven and fragmented planning, that shows a Mediterranean West-East divide, and a link with population size. However, overall, both regional and city action seem insufficiently ambitious with regards to meeting the Paris Agreement, at least at city level. While national frameworks are currently weak in influencing regional and local actions, transnational networks seem to be engaging factors for commitment (at city level) and ambitiousness (at regional level). The uneven and fragmented progress revealed by this study, does not align with the characteristics shared by investigated regions and cities in terms of environmental, socio-political, climatic and economic conditions. The results support the call of a common green deal at the Mediterranean level to further address specific Mediterranean challenges and related needs. This will allow to capitalise on available resources, generate local-specific knowledge, build capacities, and support Mediterranean regions and cities in preparing the next generation of more ambitious mitigation plans. [Display omitted] • Analysis of mitigation plans of 51 regions and 73 cities in Mediterranean Europe. • Uneven progress, with West-East divide and a generally modest short-term ambition. • Bigger size Mediterranean regions and cities show higher climate action. • Mitigation planning is affected by national regulation and transnational networks. • There is a case for cross-border cooperation among Mediterranean regions and cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A recent article by Luyssaert et al. (Nature 562:259–262, 2018) analyses the climate impact of forest management in the European Union, considering both biogeochemical (i.e., greenhouse gases, GHG) and biophysical (e.g., albedo, transpiration, etc.) effects. Based on their findings, i.e. that additional net overall climate benefits from forest management would be modest, the authors conclude that the EU "should not rely on forest management to mitigate climate change". We first explain that most of the additional EU GHG mitigation effort by 2030 is expected to come from emission reductions and only a very small part from forestry, even when forest bioenergy is allowed for. Nevertheless, the inclusion of forest management in climate change mitigation strategies is key to identifying the country-specific optimal mix, in terms of overall GHG balance, between strategies focused on conserving and/or enhancing the sink and strategies focused on using more wood to reduce emissions in other GHG sectors. Then, while acknowledging the importance that biophysical effects have on the climate, especially at the local and seasonal scale, we argue that the net annual biophysical climate impact of forest management in Europe remains more uncertain than the net CO2 impact. This has not been adequately emphasized by Luyssaert et al. (2018), leading to conclusions on the net overall climate impact of forest management that we consider premature and applied to a partially biased perception of European policy towards forestry and climate change. To avoid further confusion in the debate on how forestry may contribute to mitigating climate change, a more constructive dialogue between the scientific community and policy makers is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the reaction in Europe to the negotiations at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 18) held in November-December 2012 in Doha, Qatar regarding the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Topics include the refusal of the U.S. to sign the climate agreement, the response of the European chemical industry to climate change mitigation measures, and effect of economic austerity in Europe on commitment to emissions reduction.