Mitigating Climate Change at a local level: A study to allocate national sustainability targets into feasible and measurable local targets

Abstract

In order to mitigate climate change, measures at all levels of governance are required. The Netherlands has formulated the Energy agreement in order to reduce the carbon emissions. This is subsequently implemented by provinces and municipalities. As a couple important national objectives are probably not achieved. This study therefore identifies how the targets to reduce CO2 emissions at a local level can be improved in order to contribute to the national targets.

This research first identifies which measures are currently described by the executive agreements of municipalities. Afterwards, additional climate programs are used to determine how these targets are implemented, measured and monitored. Following from these results a general overview of the current contribution of municipalities has been given. These steps of the analysis reveal that there is a general commitment for sustainable development and CO2 emission reductions. Nevertheless, the way in which actual measures will be implemented is often unclear due to a lack of quantified targets. This research therefore proposes adaptations to create feasible and measurable targets at a local scale which subsequently has resulted in a framework with improved steps.