Kovacs ANDRAS DONAT, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies, Hungary
Farkas JENO ZSOLT , Centre for Economic and Regional Studies, Hungary
Ovari AGNES, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies, Hungary
A paradigm shift in climate protection can be achieved by increasing the environmental awareness of society. Urban communities and local governments have an important role to play in this process. Our study aims to explore the achievements, problems, and perspectives of climate change planning and policymaking at the urban level and shows the positive and negative features of the local climate strategies. We present the Hungarian specificities and examples of urban climate strategy planning using the example of five cities. During the research, we scrutinized the achievements of municipalities so far, and the barriers, opportunities for feasibility, and even the collaboration in local climate actions. We review the planning and institutional framework of climate strategy planning, the mandatory responsibilities of municipalities, and the funding system linked to EU funds, as well as the alignment with central expectations and local visions. We briefly compare our result with two cities: Graz and Copenhagen which have achieved excellent results. Our first results show that cities' adaptation activities are hampered by uncoordinated support systems and policy decisions, as well as inertia in local societies and gaps in institutional capacity - human resources. There is insufficient support for climate adaptation efforts. Most of the planned projects rely only on expected EU funding in the absence of local resources. Therefore, existing plans and programs generally do not go beyond increasing the area of urban green space and green-upgrading of public buildings and basic awareness-raising. The municipalities do not have enough power to develop infrastructure for human health protection and arise climate consciousness. Some of the adaptation measures identified in the strategies cannot be implemented by local governments. Often there is a general contradiction between rhetoric and action, and there is uncertainty about whether commitments will be fulfilled.
Mots clés : climate adaptation|local climate strategies|climate policy |climate awareness|local governance
A104902KA