Editing IPCC:AR6/WGIII/Chapter-8 (section)

=== Box 8.4: Net-zero Targets and Urban Settlements ===

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Around the world, net-zero-emissions targets, whether economy-wide or targeting a specific sector (e.g., transport, buildings) or emissions scope (e.g., direct scope 1, or both scope 1 and 2), have been adopted by at least 826 cities and 103 regions that represent 11% of the global population with 846 million people across six continents (NewClimate Institute and Data-Driven EnviroLab 2020). In some countries, the share of such cities and regions has reached a critical mass by representing more than 70% of their total populations with or without net-zero-emissions targets at the national level.

In some cases, the scope of these targets extends beyond net-zero emissions from any given sector based on direct emissions (see Glossary) and encompass downstream emissions from a consumption-based perspective with 195 targets that are found to represent economy-wide targets. These commitments range from ‘carbon neutrality’ (see Glossary) or net-zero GHG emissions targets, which entail near elimination of cities’ own direct or electricity-based emissions but could involve some type of carbon offsetting, to more stringent net-zero-emissions goals (Data-Driven EnviroLab and NewClimate Institute 2020) (for related definitions, such as ‘carbon neutrality’, ‘net-zero CO 2 emissions’, ‘net-zero GHG emissions’, and ‘offset’, see Glossary).

Currently, 43% of the urban areas with net-zero-emissions targets have also put into place related action plans while about 24% have integrated net-zero-emissions targets into formal policies and legislation (Data-Driven EnviroLab and NewClimate Institute 2020). Moreover, thousands of urban areas have adopted renewable energy-specific targets for power, heating/cooling and transport and about 600 cities are pursuing 100% renewable energy targets ( [[#REN21--2019|REN21 2019]] , 2021) with some cities already achieving it.

Box 8.4

The extent of realising and implementing these targets with the collective contribution of urban areas to net-zero-emissions scenarios with sufficient timing and pace of emission reductions will require a coordinated integration of sectors, strategies, and innovations ( [[#Swilling--2018|Swilling et al. 2018]] ; [[#Hsu--2020c|Hsu et al. 2020c]] ; [[#Sethi--2020|Sethi et al. 2020]] ; [[#UNEP%20IRP--2020|UNEP IRP 2020]] ). In turn, the transformation of urban systems can significantly impact net-zero-emissions trajectories within mitigation pathways. Institutional capacity, governance, financing, and cross-sector coordination is crucial for enabling and accelerating urban actions for rapid decarbonisation.

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