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

=== FAQ 8.2 | What are the most impactful options cities can take to mitigate urban emissions, and how can these be best implemented? ===

<div id="h2-37-siblings" class="h2-siblings"></div>

The most impactful urban mitigation plans reduce urban GHG emissions by considering the long lifespan of urban layout and urban infrastructures (Sections 8.4.1 and 8.6). [https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg3/chapter/chapter-8 Chapter 8] identifies three overarching mitigation strategies with the largest potential to decrease current, and avoid future, urban emissions: (i) reducing or changing urban energy and material use towards more sustainable production and consumption across all sectors including through spatial planning and infrastructure that supports compact, walkable urban form ( [[#8.4.2|Section 8.4.2]] ); (ii) decarbonise through electrification of the urban energy system, and switch to net-zero-emissions resources (i.e., low-carbon infrastructure) ( [[#8.4.3|Section 8.4.3]] ); and (iii) enhance carbon sequestration through urban green and blue infrastructure (e.g., green roofs, urban forests and street trees), which can also offer multiple co-benefits like reducing ground temperatures and supporting public health and well-being ( [[#8.4.4|Section 8.4.4]] ). Integrating these mitigation strategies across sectors, geographic scales, and levels of governance will yield the greatest emissions savings (Sections 8.4 and 8.5).

A city’s layout, patterns, and spatial arrangements of land use, transportation systems, and built environment (urban form), as well as its state and form(s) of development (urban growth typology), can inform the most impactful emissions savings ‘entry points’ and priorities for urban mitigation strategies (Sections 8.4.2 and 8.6). For rapidly growing and emerging urban areas, there is the opportunity to avoid carbon lock-in by focusing on urban form that promotes low-carbon infrastructure and enables low-impact behaviour facilitated by co-located medium to high densities of jobs and housing, walkability, and transit-oriented development (Sections 8.6.2 and 8.6.3). For established cities, strategies include electrification of the grid and transport, and implementing energy efficiency across sectors ( [[#8.6.1|Section 8.6.1]] ).

<div id="FAQ 8.3 |      How do we estimate global emissions from cities, and how reliable are the estimates?" class="h2-container"></div>

<span id="faq-8.3-how-do-we-estimate-global-emissions-from-cities-and-how-reliable-are-the-estimates"></span>