Q4. Adapting to Impacts?
Question: What strategies do cities employ to adapt to the impacts of climate change?
Query result: 4.5.3. Cities, Settlements and Infrastructure (Page 105-106)
IPCC, 2023: Climate Change 2023: Synthesis Report. Section 4: Near-Term Responses in a Changing Climate > 4.5 Near-Term Mitigation and Adaptation Actions > 4.5.3 Cities, Settlements and Infrastructure
URL: https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/syr/
Cite: IPCC, 2023: Climate Change 2023: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Core Writing Team, H. Lee and J. Romero (eds.)]. IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland, 184 pp., doi: 10.59327/IPCC/AR6-9789291691647.
Content:
4.5.3. Cities, Settlements and Infrastructure
Urban systems are critical for achieving deep emissions reductions and advancing climate resilient development, particularly when this involves integrated planning that incorporates physical, natural and social infrastructure (high confidence). Deep emissions reductions and integrated adaptation actions are advanced by: integrated, inclusive land use planning and decision-making; compact urban form by co-locating jobs and housing; reducing or changing urban energy and material consumption; electrification in combination with low emissions sources; improved water and waste management infrastructure; and enhancing carbon uptake and storage in the urban environment (e.g. bio-based building materials, permeable surfaces and urban green and blue infrastructure). Cities can achieve net zero emissions if emissions are reduced within and outside of their administrative boundaries through supply chains, creating beneficial cascading effects across other sectors. (high confidence) {WGII SPM C.5.6, WGII SPM D.1.3, WGII SPM D.3; WGIII SPM C.6, WGIII SPM C.6.2, WGIII TS 5.4, SR1.5 SPM C.2.4}
Considering climate change impacts and risks (e.g., through climate services) in the design and planning of urban and rural settlements and infrastructure is critical for resilience and enhancing human well-being. Effective mitigation can be advanced at each of the design, construction, retrofit, use and disposal stages for buildings. Mitigation interventions for buildings include: at the construction phase, low-emission construction materials, highly efficient building envelope and the integration of renewable energy solutions; at the use phase, highly efficient appliances/equipment, the optimisation of the use of buildings and their supply with low-emission energy sources; and at the disposal phase, recycling and re-using construction materials. Sufficiency155 measures can limit the demand for energy and materials over the lifecycle of buildings and appliances. (high confidence) {WGII SPM C.2.5; WGIII SPM C.7.2}
Transport-related GHG emissions can be reduced by demand-side options and low-GHG emissions technologies. Changes in urban form, reallocation of street space for cycling and walking, digitalisation (e.g., teleworking) and programs that encourage changes in consumer behaviour (e.g. transport, pricing) can reduce demand for transport services and support the shift to more energy efficient transport modes (high confidence). Electric vehicles powered by low-emissions electricity offer the largest decarbonisation potential for land-based transport, on a life cycle basis (high confidence). Costs of electrified vehicles are decreasing and their adoption is accelerating, but they require continued investments in supporting infrastructure to increase scale of deployment (high confidence). The environmental footprint of battery production and growing concerns about critical minerals can be addressed by material and supply diversification strategies, energy and material efficiency improvements, and circular material flows (medium confidence). Advances in battery technologies could facilitate the electrification of heavy-duty trucks and compliment conventional electric rail systems (medium confidence). Sustainable biofuels can offer additional mitigation benefits in land-based transport in the short and medium term (medium confidence). Sustainable biofuels, low-emissions hydrogen, and derivatives (including synthetic fuels) can support mitigation of CO2 emissions from shipping, aviation, and heavy-duty land transport but require production process improvements and cost reductions (medium confidence). Key infrastructure systems including sanitation, water, health, transport, communications and energy will be increasingly vulnerable if design standards do not account for changing climate conditions (high confidence). {WGII SPM B.2.5; WGIII SPM C.6.2, WGIII SPM C.8, WGIII SPM C.8.1, WGIII SPM C.8.2, WGIII SPM C.10.2, WGIII SPM C.10.3, WGIII SPM C.10.4}
Green/natural and blue infrastructure such as urban forestry, green roofs, ponds and lakes, and river restoration can mitigate climate change through carbon uptake and storage, avoided emissions, and reduced energy use while reducing risk from extreme events such as heatwaves, heavy precipitation and droughts, and advancing co-benefits for health, well-being and livelihoods (medium confidence). Urban greening can provide local cooling (very high confidence). Combining green/natural and grey/physical infrastructure adaptation responses has potential to reduce adaptation costs and contribute to flood control, sanitation, water resources management, landslide prevention and coastal protection (medium confidence). Globally, more financing is directed at grey/physical infrastructure than green/natural infrastructure and social infrastructure (medium confidence), and there is limited evidence of investment in informal settlements (medium to high confidence). The greatest gains in well-being in urban areas can be achieved by prioritising finance to reduce climate risk for low-income and marginalised communities including people living in informal settlements (high confidence). {WGII SPM C.2.5, WGII SPM C.2.6, WGII SPM C.2.7, WGII SPM D.3.2, WGII TS.E.1.4, WGII Cross-Chapter Box FEAS; WGIII SPM C.6, WGIII SPM C.6.2, WGIII SPM D.1.3, WGIII SPM D.2.1}
Responses to ongoing sea level rise and land subsidence in low-lying coastal cities and settlements and small islands include protection, accommodation, advance and planned relocation. These responses are more effective if combined and/or sequenced, planned well ahead, aligned with sociocultural values and development priorities, and underpinned by inclusive community engagement processes. (high confidence) {WGII SPM C.2.8}