Pathways for Deep Decarbonization in Cities: Mechanisms, tools and governance structures for transformative climate action

As the urgency for action against climate change increases, local governments around the world are committing to reducing greenhouse gas emissions through deep decarbonization targets. Cities are the largest place-based sources of GHG emissions and therefore have great potential to reduce emissions on a global scale. In order to reach meaningful reduction levels, transformative change is not only needed to create deep decarbonization pathways, but also to disrupt the current path dependency on carbon that most cities face today. This qualitative study will examine pathways within climate action plans. It will also identify the actors, governance mechanisms, and tools that cities are using in order to achieve their decarbonization targets by mid-century. Through a partnership with ICLEI Canada, the student intern will gain access to relevant internal research data and resources needed for the study, while the partner organization expects that the academic research will be useful to their existing and ongoing projects. The purpose of this project is to inform the creation and implementation of deep decarbonization plans for cities.

Faculty Supervisor:

Amelia Clarke

Student:

Samantha Linton

Partner:

ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability

Discipline:

Environmental sciences

Sector:

Other

University:

Université de Montréal