Climate Change Mitigation Actions Research Articles

Carbon sequestration and storage capacity of Chinese fir at different stand ages

In southern China, Chinese fir Cunninghamia lanceolata is one of the most important native conifer trees, widely used in afforestation programs. This area has the largest forestland atmospheric carbon sink, and a relatively young stand age characterizes these forests. However, how C. lanceolata forests evolved regarding their ability to sequester carbon remains unclear. Here we present data on carbon storage and sequestration capacity of C. lanceolata at six stand ages (5−, 10−, 15−, 20−, 30− and 60 − year−old stands). Results show that the carbon stock in trees, understory, vegetation, litter, soil, and ecosystem significantly increased with forest age. The total ecosystem carbon stock increased from 129.11 to 348.43 Mg ha−1 in the 5− and 60 − year−old stands. The carbon sequestration rate of C. lanceolata shows an overall increase in the first two stand intervals (5–10 and 10–15), peaks in the 15–20 stand intervals, and then decreases in the 20–30 and 30–60 stand intervals. Our result revealed that carbon sequestration rate is a matter of tree age, with the highest sequestration rates occurring in the middle age forest (15–20 − year−old). Therefore, this information may be useful for national climate change mitigation actions and afforestation programs, since forests are primarily planted for this purpose.

Evaluation of the Climate Village Program to Improve Environmental Health

Climate change has a wide impact on the lives of people who are vulnerable to multidimensional disasters. Government efforts in tackling the impacts of climate change through the climate village program as implemented in Korong Pasa Surau Nagari Guguak, Padang Pariaman Regency. The study intends to measure the degree of success achieved in implementing community-based solutions for adaptation and mitigation in response to the challenges posed by climate change. The current investigation is a qualitative descriptive study conducted between March and April 2023.The participants for this study were recruited using a random chance sampling technique to verify that the selected individuals could adequately represent their respective groups. A cohort of five individuals was engaged as informants. The study's findings suggest evaluating the implementation of the climatic village program (Proklim) in Nagari Guguk Korong Pasa Surau. The assessment was carried out by considering the several elements of the climate village program activities, which encompassed adaptation activities aimed at addressing climate change (74.33%), climate change mitigation actions (17.33%), and an evaluation of the institution's sustainability and support (14.50%). The circumstance above demonstrates that the proklim in Nagari Guguak Korong Pasa Surau falls inside the moderately effective classification. In the future, to increase the success and sustainability of Proklim in the area, multisector support is needed so that Proklim can make its people able to adapt and mitigate climate change and create good environmental health

Green colonialism and decolonial feminism: A study of Wayúu women’s resistance in La Guajira

This qualitative study scrutinises how green energy investment affects Indigenous Wayúu people in Colombia’s La Guajira region. Employing coloniality of power and decolonial feminism frameworks, we delve into Wayúu women’s struggles and resilience in defending territories against large-scale wind energy projects. Our findings suggest that governments and businesses are ‘tuned in’ to the economic benefits of these projects, yet ‘tuned out’ from Indigenous peoples’ ontologies, concerns, needs and cosmovisions. This dynamic prompts questions about the unintended consequences of organisations’ engagement with Indigenous peoples through corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategies. Despite good intentions, CSR practices that are ‘tuned out’ from Indigenous peoples’ cosmovisions may inadvertently reinforce power imbalances and further marginalise Indigenous communities. Our study highlights the need to honour Indigenous territories and protect Indigenous women’s rights in long-term investments. Clean energy focus can mask green colonialism, which Wayúu women actively safeguard, upholding Indigenous worldviews via feminist decoloniality. We advocate for businesses to incorporate diverse perspectives beyond the dominant western worldview into their climate change mitigation actions and CSR strategies, and for public policies to balance decarbonisation efforts with Indigenous rights to contribute to sustainable and equitable energy transitions.

Climate Change Mitigation At City Level Through The Lens Of South Africa's Regulatory Framework For Bioenergy

Climate change is one of the most significant challenges of the 21st century. To combat climate change the international community has agreed to keep the average temperature increase well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels. Despite this consideration, the latest scientific evidence suggests that the planet has already warmed by 1.1°C above pre-industrial levels. The slow reaction by national governments to reducing greenhouse gas emissions has prompted cities to take ownership of climate change mitigation action and drive global intervention from the sub-national level. These urban areas are home to more than half of the world's population and have immense energy requirements, and typically rely heavily on fossil fuels to meet this demand. Therefore, a shift to city level climate governance is significant as cities are both the victims and the culprits of climate change. Should cities supplant fossil fuels with renewable energy initiatives in meeting their energy demands, this would provide a significant boost to climate change mitigation efforts. Bioenergy as a form of renewable energy can potentially contribute to the energy mix in cities through biomass exploitation while simultaneously addressing climate change mitigation efforts. This article focusses on the role of bioenergy in the energy discourse in cities and the potential of law and policy to contribute to developing these biomass-based systems. The article provides insight into the South African bioenergy regulatory framework from an energy and climate change perspective and offers an account of what bioenergy can contribute to cities when considering the transition to a low-carbon economy.

Investigating biodiversity trends in different mitigation scenarios with a national integrated assessment model

ABSTRACT The inclusion of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in climate mitigation pathways is critical and can be reached by assessing their consequences through the deployment of appropriate indicators to that end. Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs) are important tools for understanding possible impacts caused by adopting new policies. We investigate terrestrial biodiversity trends (life on land: SDG 15) for three different climate mitigation scenarios for Brazil: (1) A scenario compatible with a world that maintains its current policies with current deforestation rates in the Amazon and the Cerrado biomes; (2) A scenario in which Brazil fulfils its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC); and (3) A scenario compatible with a world that limits warming to 1.5°C. We use the Brazilian Land-Use and Energy System model (BLUES), a national IAM, to show the implications of the transitions involved in the above-mentioned scenarios for the country up to 2050. We conduct a post-processing analysis using consolidated biodiversity indicators to emphasize how different IAM greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions mitigation solutions present distinct positive and negative potential impacts on biodiversity in Brazil. However, our analysis does not consider the impacts associated with climate change, but only the risks imposed by mitigation policies. Our results indicate that biodiversity loss decreases in the scenarios from (1) to (3), implying that stronger climate change mitigation actions could result in smaller biodiversity losses. We conclude that Brazil has the opportunity to align its biodiversity and climate goals through nature-based solutions (NBS), such as forest conservation, restoration, pasture recovery, and the use of crop-pasture and agroforestry systems.

A high-resolution monitoring approach of urban CO2 fluxes. Part 2 – surface flux optimisation using eddy covariance observations

Achieving climate neutrality by 2050 requires ground-breaking technological and methodological advancements in climate change mitigation planning and actions from local to regional scales. Monitoring the cities' CO2 emissions with sufficient detail and accuracy is crucial for guiding sustainable urban transformation. Current methodologies for CO2 emission inventories rely on bottom-up (BU) approaches which do not usually offer information on the spatial or temporal variability of the emissions and present substantial uncertainties. This study develops a novel approach which assimilates direct CO2 flux observations from urban eddy covariance (EC) towers with very high spatiotemporal resolution information from an advanced urban BU surface flux model (Part 1 of this study, Stagakis et al., 2023) within a Bayesian inversion framework. The methodology is applied to the city centre of Basel, Switzerland (3 × 3 km domain), taking advantage of two long-term urban EC sites located 1.6 km apart. The data assimilation provides optimised gridded CO2 flux information individually for each urban surface flux component (i.e. building heating emissions, commercial/industrial emissions, traffic emissions, human respiration emissions, biogenic net exchange) at 20 m resolution and weekly time-step. The results demonstrate that urban EC observations can be consistently used to improve high-resolution BU surface CO2 flux model estimations, providing realistic seasonal variabilities of each flux component. Traffic emissions are determined with the greatest confidence among the five flux components during the inversions. The optimised annual anthropogenic emissions are 14.7 % lower than the prior estimate, the human respiration emissions have decreased by 12.1 %, while the biogenic components transformed from a weak sink to a weak source. The root-mean-square errors (RMSEs) of the weekly comparisons between EC observations and model outputs are consistently reduced. However, a slight underestimation of the total flux, especially in locations with complex CO2 source/sink mixture, is still evident in the optimised fluxes.

The integration of smart city planning policy with climate change adaptation and mitigation actions: a review of kathmandu

Many urban systems worldwide are projected to be affected by the consequences of climate change, such as increased rainfall intensity, storm surge, flooding, and the urban heat island effect. This will significantly impact the management of cities and their populations, and the services they provide. To overcome this effect, adaptation will likely be required. This article examines how climate change moderation and variation are combined with intelligent urban planning policies (strategies, legislation, and laws) in the Kathmandu district. The three governance sciences look at the two levels of governance (national and local) (intelligent urban planning, pollution management, and climate change). The assessment process is one of the few instruments to review the adequacy of climate change and strategic policies. The findings show that intelligent city planning documents should present climate change adaptation and mitigation actions. In addition, adaptation and mitigation measures still need to be well integrated. Significant prospects for greater policy coordination through guidelines and levels of government under the Paris Agreement priorities have been identified, ensuring implementation in land use and planning decisions. Innovative city development policies must be better able to design and implement climate resilience and mitigation measures.

Seven key principles for assessing emerging low-carbon technological opportunities for climate change mitigation action

Seven key principles for assessing emerging low-carbon technological opportunities for climate change mitigation action

Climate change mitigation in Zimbabwe and links to sustainable development

In 2021, Zimbabwe updated its Greenhouse Gas (GHG) reduction target from a 33% reduction in per capita energy sector GHG emissions to a 40% reduction from all sectors, compared to 2030 baseline emission scenarios. This work aims to demonstrate how the actions identified in Zimbabwe's Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) can achieve this updated target, and what development benefits could occur in Zimbabwe through the implementation of these actions. The magnitude of GHG emissions in Zimbabwe are modelled historically and to 2030 to quantify GHG emission reduction potentials, and contributions to selected sustainable development goal targets, from implementation of 28 mitigation measures. The estimated ∼37 million tonnes CO2-equivalent emissions emitted by Zimbabwe in 2017 are projected to increase by 109% to ∼77 million tonnes without implementation of any mitigation measures. The mitigation measures included in the updated NDC could reduce GHG emissions by 40% in 2030 compared to the baseline, while additional measures included in other plans and strategies in Zimbabwe could achieve a further 23% reduction. Implementing Zimbabwe's NDC could also lead to substantial development benefits locally, including to public health, biodiversity, and sustainable energy use. This assessment therefore provides a clear pathway to achieve Zimbabwe's updated climate change mitigation commitment, as the target is linked to the implementation of specific, concrete mitigation actions. It provides a practical example as to how methods to assess climate mitigation and development priorities can be integrated within climate change mitigation target-setting assessments. The more widespread adoption of prospective, quantitative assessment of development benefits from climate change mitigation actions could provide further motivation for more ambitious climate change action.

Information sources and climate change mitigation support

This study examined the relationship between information sources and support for climate change mitigation among undergraduates at Adeleke University. A simple random sampling technique was used to survey the students anonymously. Data analysis involved descriptive and inferential statistics. Results showed that a majority of the 688 participants expressed support for climate change mitigation actions, such as reducing fossil fuel usage, planting trees, and reducing meat intake. The main sources of climate change information for students were Google, Television, friends, family, Facebook, Radio, YouTube, and Instagram. However, Twitter, newspapers, church/mosque, and religious leaders were not commonly used as primary sources. Notably, sourcing climate change information from newspapers had a significant positive relationship (p = 0.036) with support for mitigation measures. The study concluded that information sources play a crucial role in generating support for climate change mitigation efforts. It recommended promoting newspaper readership to enhance awareness and support for sustainable practices, collaborating with newspapers to feature informative climate change content, engaging with Twitter users for accurate information dissemination, and partnering with religious institutions to incorporate climate change messages into teachings and support grassroots initiatives.

Extreme Heat Events over Southeast Europe Based on NEX-GDDP Ensemble: Present Climate Evaluation and Future Projections

Southeast Europe is considered one of the most vulnerable regions in the context of climate change, and projected future summer warming is expected to exceed global rates significantly. Despite the importance of this problem, there have been few studies that utilized Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) Global Circulation Models (GCMs) and the multi-model ensemble approach to examine extreme heat events on a regional scale. Additionally, the NEX-GDDP dataset, successfully applied in other parts of the world to assess extreme heat, has not yet been utilized for Southeast Europe. This study aims to fill that gap, presenting the time evolution and spatial distribution of extreme heat events in Southeast Europe for the historical period 1950–2005 and for the expected future climate up to the end of the 21st century based on the NEX-GDDP dataset. In order to leverage the strengths of the multi-model ensemble approach, a set of purpose-tailored indicators, such as the annual number of hot days, the maximum number of consecutive hot days, and hot spell duration at different thresholds, is computed by the daily maximum temperature data from all datasets, produced by NEX-GDDP (21 for the historical period and 42 for the future period). The E-OBS dataset is used as a reference for evaluating the NEX-GDDP’s capability to simulate the features of the observed historical extreme heat events. The results show that the multi-model ensemble can satisfactorily capture the occurrence of extreme heat events in the historical period, and therefore it is reasonable to assume that the NEX-GDDP dataset has the potential to reproduce such extremes in the projected future. The study provides clear evidence that the persistence and spatial extent of extreme heat will increase significantly. Some indicators that were not relevant for the historical period due to the high-temperature threshold will become helpful in assessing extreme heat in Southeast Europe in the latter part of the century. Thus, under the RCP8.5 scenario, the area-averaged duration of hot spells at 32 °C and 34 °C will increase from near zero in 1976–2005 to 60 and 45 days, respectively, by the end of the century. The indicators used in the study may be helpful for decision-makers to implement climate change mitigation strategies and actions adequately. The findings are consistent with general tendencies in maximum temperatures considered in our previous works but also with the outcomes of recent studies dedicated to the future climate of the region.

Exemplary Method of Environmental Cadres: Strategy for Creating Civic Responsibility in Handling Climate Change through the Climate Village Program

Climate change mitigation is the civic responsibility towards the environment. Climate change causes various adverse impacts on human health and survival. Reducing these negative impacts as a responsible citizen must create a sustainable environment, but not all citizens have the character of responsibility. This study aims to describe the exemplary method of environmental cadres as a strategy to create the character of civic responsibility in handling climate change through the Climate Village Program. This study uses a qualitative descriptive research type. Data collection techniques using observation, interviews, and documentation. Data analysis in this study uses data reduction, data presentation, conclusions, and verification. The results of this study indicate that exemplary methods by environmental cadres can create the character of civic responsibility in handling climate change through the Climate Village Program which is demonstrated by the ability of residents to carry out climate change mitigation actions, awareness of citizens in maintaining cleanliness, ability to manage and preserve the environment. Environmental cadres are residents who have knowledge, skills, and a more competent attitude towards environmental responsibility than other residents so every action of environmental cadres becomes an example for other residents to emulate.

The CO2NSTRUCT European project: Modelling the role of Circular Economy in construction value chains for a carbon-neutral Europe

Linear climate mitigation models look into aggregated economic sectors and model greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions disregarding downstream value chains, making particular sectors accountable for downstream (or upstream) GHG emissions. Hence, the present climate mitigation models inconsistently account for indirect GHG emissions; underrepresent upstream and downstream value chains; do not address Circular Economy (CE) practices; do not cover resource consumption, thus not considering materials’ circularity. To provide curated policy support for decision-making for carbon neutrality and other Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), models need to shift from linear to circular. To achieve this, a link between energy-climate mitigation modelling and cradle-to-cradle assessment CE analytical tools must be established. This is the core issue covered in the CO2NSTRUCT Horizon project (2022-2026). CO2NSTRUCT proposes a framework to supplement the well-established JRC-EU-TIMES model, using a highly comprehensive technological representation with CE measures. The framework will apply CE measures to the value chain of six carbon-intensive construction materials (i.e., cement, steel, brick, glass, wood, and insulation materials) and will provide new components to the JRC-EU-TIMES model, including citizen behaviour; societal impacts; rebound effects; supply and value chains. The results will be used for policy approaches integrating CE into climate change mitigation actions.

Barrier analysis to leverage the climate change mitigation-adaptation implementation action in mangrove forest and its surrounding community villages

In the Nationally Determined Contribution document (NDC), Indonesia has a target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions of 29% on its own capability and 41% with international assistance by 2030, and plans to initiate action to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 as outlined in the Long-term Strategy for Low Carbon and Climate Resilience (LTS-LCCR) 2050 document. Mangrove forest ecosystems can absorb carbon emissions 4-5 times greater than terrestrial forests, are used as one of source to achieve Indonesia’s NDC and LTS-LCCR targets. Mangrove forest is also as a barrier to coastal abrasion. Mangrove forests can be damaged by natural cause and also due to human activities. Socialization of its importance and improving the economic community welfare around mangrove forests are important factors to prevent damage and maintain its sustainability. The improving economic community efforts can be carried out by applying mitigation-adaptation actions/economic activities of the community. This activity aims to analyse the barrier and challenges in preserving and restoring, as well as rehabilitating the mangrove forests ecosystem in the Indramayu and Brebes regencies. The data obtained from field surveys while the methodology for barrier analysis refers to the methodology that has been used in the preparation of Indonesia’s Climate Change mitigation and adaptation Technology Action Plans (TAPs) documents. The barrier analysis includes regulatory/policy, technical, financial, coordination, and social and/or institutional barrier aspects. These barriers have been analysed, mapped and identified, then causal relations of the barriers have been carried out and identified. Then the cross-cutting issued/integrated the measures of both issues and prioritized the cross-cutting issued can be determined.

Coastal vulnerability assessment for the coast of Tamil Nadu, India-a geospatial approach.

A coastal region is a section of land that borders a significant body of water, often the sea or ocean. Despite their productivity, they are sensitive to even little alterations in the outside environment. This study aims to develop a spatial coastal vulnerability index (CVI) map for the Tamil Nadu coast of India, which has diverse coastal and marine environments that are ecologically fragile zones. Climate change is expected to increase the intensity and frequency of severe coastal hazards, such as rising sea levels, cyclones, storm surges, tsunamis, erosion, and accretion, severely impacting local environmental and socio-economic conditions. This research employed expert knowledge, weights, and scores from the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) to create vulnerability maps. The process includes the integration of various parameters such as geomorphology, Land use and land cover (LULC), significant wave height (SWH), rate of sea level rise (SLR), shoreline change (SLC), bathymetry, elevation, and coastal inundation. Based on the results, the very low, low, and moderate vulnerability regions comprise 17.26%, 30.77%, and 23.46%, respectively, whereas the high and very high vulnerability regions comprise 18.20% and 10.28%, respectively. The several locations tend to be high and very highdue to land-use patterns and coastal structures, but very few are contributed by geomorphological features. The results are validated by conducting a field survey in a few locations along the coast. Thus, this study establishes a framework for decision-makers to implement climate change adaptation and mitigation actions in coastal zones.

Climate Change Knowledge and Perception among Farming Households in Nigeria

Nigeria is committed to achieving a 20% unconditional and 45% conditional reduction of GHG emissions by 2030 through a strong focus on awareness of and preparedness for climate change impacts via the mobilization of local communities for climate change mitigation actions. As land cover changes and forestry contribute 38% and agriculture contributes 13% of the country’s GHGs, farmers are among the stakeholders to be aware of and prepare for climate change mitigations and adaptations. This study assessed the knowledge of agriculturally related practices associated with climate change and its relation to climate change perception. One thousand and eighty (1080) smallholder farmers were interviewed across six agroecological zones (AEZs) of Nigeria using a structured questionnaire. The results revealed that most farmers know that deforestation and land clearance by bush burning contributes to climate change. However, many farmers did not know that methane emissions from livestock (enteric fermentation) can cause climate change. Our results further show that the farmers’ perception of climate change is associated with climate change knowledge. Factors affecting the climate change knowledge of farmers include information received from government extension services, environmental NGOs, and radio, as well as experiencing extreme weather events. Farmers of dry AEZs were more aware and knowledgeable of the agricultural practices contributing to the changing environment. Increased exposure to climate change events thus appears to elevate the knowledge on the topic. Using government services, environmental NGOs, and radio to disseminate climate change information will help further in guiding and shaping farmers’ perceptions towards scientific findings for appropriate actions.

Improved Object-Based Mapping of Aboveground Biomass Using Geographic Stratification with GEDI Data and Multi-Sensor Imagery

Aboveground biomass (AGB) mapping using spaceborne LiDAR data and multi-sensor images is essential for efficient carbon monitoring and climate change mitigation actions in heterogeneous forests. The optimal predictors of remote sensing-based AGB vary greatly with geographic stratification, such as topography and forest type, while the way in which geographic stratification influences the contributions of predictor variables in object-based AGB mapping is insufficiently studied. To address the improvement of mapping forest AGB by geographic stratification in heterogeneous forests, satellite multisensory data from global ecosystem dynamics investigation (GEDI) and series of advanced land observing satellite (ALOS) and Sentinel were integrated. Multi-sensor predictors for the AGB modeling of different types of forests were selected using a correlation analysis of variables calculated from topographically stratified objects. Random forests models were built with GEDI-based AGB and geographically stratified predictors to acquire wall-to-wall biomass values. It was illustrated that the mapped biomass had a similar distribution and was approximate to the sampled forest AGB. Through an accuracy comparison using independent validation samples, it was determined that the geographic stratification approach improved the accuracy by 34.79% compared to the unstratified process. Stratification of forest type further increased the mapped AGB accuracy compared to that of topography. Topographical stratification greatly influenced the predictors’ contributions to AGB mapping in mixed broadleaf–conifer and broad-leaved forests, but only slightly impacted coniferous forests. Optical variables were predominant for deciduous forests, while for evergreen forests, SAR indices outweighed the other predictors. As a pioneering estimation of forest AGB with geographic stratification using satellite multisensory data, this study offers optimal predictors and an advanced method for obtaining carbon maps in heterogeneous regional landscapes.

Preface

Following the success of 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2021 International Conference on Science & Technology Applications in Climate Change (STACLIM), the Institute of Climate Change (IPI), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) is proud to extend our promotion of research and education for the advancement of climate change studies. The 2022 International Conference on Science & Technology Applications in Climate Change (STACLIM 2022) with the theme “Climate change mitigation action through the lens of science and technology” is the fifth in the series of conferences organized by IPI. This year the conference was carried out in virtual form through the Webex platform (29 – 30 November 2022) due to the COVID-19 travel restriction. Through the virtual form, the science community is able to share their research findings in time.The aim of this conference is to bring together researchers in fields of Environmental Science, Health Sustainability, Mathematics, Sustainable Energy, Economic Sustainability, Socio-Cultural Studies, Social Science, Atmospheric Science, and related fields, to present their research findings as well as create new opportunities for future research collaborations. This event is envisaged to witness active participation from various eminent environmental and earth scientists, engineers and students from academia, industry and government sectors for addressing complications associated with climate change and to draw forth novel and ground-breaking initiatives and solutions for climate resilience.The plenary sessions in the main room were opened by two keynote speeches from leading experts including Prof. Dr. Lisa Stein from University of Alberta, Canada on “Microbial Solutions to Mitigating Climate Change”, Prof. Dr. Haruko Kurihara from University of Ryukyus, Japan, on “Ocean acidification impacts on marine ecosystem and its potential mitigation solutions”. As the keynote session was open for public registration, we had participants joining the event. It was then followed by the invited speaker sessions consisting of Prof. Dr. Fredolin Tangang (UKM), Assoc. Prof. Dr. Rawshan Ara Begum (Macquarie University, Australia), Dr. Shantanu Kumar Pani (National Central University, Taiwan) and Mr. Saud Aldrees (University of Oxford, England). The program was then continued with oral presentation of 72 papers in 3 parallel breakout rooms. Each presenter was given up to 15 mins for presentation and Q&A sessions. There were additional 13 non-presenters who joined in during the presentation session. Presenters and participants have attended the conference from their respective countries including Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, USA, China, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Algeria, India, and Ukraine.The conference went well with great support and synergy of the staff and personnel from Institute of Climate Change, UKM. To document and promulgate the research findings and ideas shared, we are very pleased to publish the accepted research papers of STACLIM 2022 in IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science (EES).The EditorsList of Organizing Committee is available in this Pdf.

Identifying the links among urban climate hazards, mitigation and adaptation actions and sustainability for future resilient cities

Comprehensive and objective assessment methods need to be developed to create inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable cities. Monitoring the evolution of sustainability and well-being in the cities is important for researchers implementing the UN 2030 Agenda. This research explores and analyzes the climate change hazards, adaptation- and mitigation actions and their implementation in 776 cities located in 84 different countries. The climate action co-benefits are supporting the achievement of sustainable development goals, which are comprehensively elaborated in this methodological development. The analyzes are carried out based on the continuously updated Carbon Disclosure Project database. An open source algorithm has been developed that represents the CDP database as a bit table and use frequent itemset mining for the identification of global patterns of climate hazards, mitigation- and adaptation actions and their co-benefits, therefore, this paper offers an exploratory analysis tool that is suitable for monitoring climate actions. The most frequently identified mitigation actions in cities were energy planting (1444 actions), and on-site renewable production (644), while the most common actions for adaptation were tree planting (283) and flood mapping (267). Regarding city size, 41% of large metropolitan areas plan to develop mass transit actions, while the separate collection of recyclables is typical in 85% of towns. 56.2% of CDP database actions support access to sustainable cities and communities goal (SDG11), 54.2% access to climate action goal (SDG13), and the emergence of affordable and clean energy (SDG7) and gender equality goal (SDG5) are below 5%.

Mapping high-resolution forest aboveground biomass of China using multisource remote sensing data

ABSTRACT Forest aboveground biomass (AGB) estimation is crucial for carbon cycle studies and climate change mitigation actions. However, because of limitations in timely and reliable forestry surveys and high-resolution remote sensing data, producing a fine resolution and spatial continuous forest AGB map of China is challenging. Here, we combined 4789 ground-truth AGB measurements and multisource remote sensing data such as a recently released forest canopy-height product, optical spectral indexes, topographic data, climatological data, and soil properties to train a random forest regression model for forest AGB estimation of China at 30-m resolution. The accuracy of the estimated AGB can yield R2 = 0.67 and RMSE = 70.71 Mg/ha. The nationwide estimates show that the average forest AGB and total forest carbon storage were 97.57 ± 23.85 Mg/ha and 11.06 Pg C for the year 2019, respectively. The value of AGB uncertainty ranges from 0.68 Mg/ha to 37.80 Mg/ha, and the average AGB uncertainty was 4.32 ± 1.75 Mg/ha. The forest AGB estimates of China in this study correspond reasonably well with the AGB estimates derived from the forestry and grassland statistical yearbook at the provincial level (R2 = 0.61, RMSE = 30.15 Mg/ha). In addition, we found that previous AGB products generally underestimate the forest AGB compared with our estimated AGB at the pixel-level and ground-truth AGB measurements. The high-resolution forest AGB map provides an important alternative data source for forest carbon cycle studies and can be used as a baseline map for forest management and conservation practices.