Integrated database on adaptation and mitigation measures in Europe

Climate action is far from meeting the internationally agreed adaptation and mitigation goals. Even though climate action planning has increased since the Paris Agreement in 2015, the implementation rate of those plans remains low. Climate planning literature claims that accounting for long-term planning and implementation times, accurately estimating costs, identifying synergies and trade-offs between measures, or considering justice and equity issues might increase the quality of climate plans and facilitate the further implementation of climate actions.

Also, there is no uniform way of responding to the climate crisis. Existing climate action databases typically focus on a particular type of response, sector, hazard, or type. In parallel, national governments and international initiatives provide tools and guidelines to facilitate the development of climate action plans. However, the primary climate action recording and monitoring initiatives and projects do not share the same framework as those tools, resulting in a lost opportunity to improve climate actions' knowledge transferability.

Thus, we reviewed eight existing databases of adaptation and five mitigation databases, comprising a total of 2030 adaptation actions and 2490 mitigation actions, and detected a lack of alignment with climate planning practices and claims. Furthermore, we revealed a lack of coherency regarding the level of abstraction of climate actions and their role in the implementation process. Not all climate actions are meant to operate similarly from a planning perspective: while some had a direct outcome on the target indicators, others are thought to facilitate their implementation.

Ultimately, we created a new integrated database of adaptation and mitigation measures in Europe, focusing exclusively on climate planning and implementation practices. First, we identified specific and transferable mitigation and adaptation measures and instruments through an originally designed decision tree. Second, we harmonised the collection of climate actions in a unique framework based on one of the biggest climate planning initiatives: the Sustainable and Energy Climate Action Plans by the Covenant of Mayors. Our integrated database of adaptation and mitigation measures (1) classifies and relates the different types of climate actions; (2) provides data that may improve the quality of climate plans and facilitate implementation; (3) allows a better perspective of systematic problems by identifying potential synergies and trade-offs; and (4) defines and characterises measures using a framework that draws on actual practice. The database compiles a total of 173 adaptation measures, 159 mitigation measures, and 92 measures that account for each, and a total of 448 associated instruments. For monitoring their outcomes, 93 SDG relevant indicators  are included.