Low Emission Zones in Municipal Adaptation Plans as an Example of Local Adaptation to Climate Changes

Abstract

In the fight against climate changes, both adaptation and mitigation measures are treated as equally significant instruments. Mitigating climate changes on a local scale has garnered interest in the context of the challenges for urban planning, transport systems, and developing green and blue infrastructure. The relationship between adaptation to climate changes and reduction of air pollution is less well-known. Studies prove the existence of a direct correlation between the emission of NOx and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), CO2 and other chemical compounds, and the growth of an urban heat island, which means that the reduction of emissions may produce a synergy effect between adaptation to climate changes and the vulnerabilities of cities. Our goal is to verify the presence of this concept in Polish urban adaptation plans in the context of the latest instrument affecting the quality of air, which is the low emission zone (LEZ), adopted in cities with a population exceeding 100,000 residents on the basis of the Act of 11 of January 2018 on electromobility and alternative fuels. Studies indicate that from among the forty urban adaptation plans adopted by co-authors and policymakers in thirty-nine cities, the issue of establishing a low emission zone is not recognized as a tool supporting adaptation to climate changes, which indicates a low level of the awareness of the relationship between air pollution and climate protection on a local level. The authors assess the causes of such a state of affairs on the basis of the relevant literature and formulate requirements for changes, particularly in the field of wider participation in the process of adopting public policy acts concerning air protection and climate changes adaptation.