Unrealized “build back better” potential in the Era of “Polycrisis”: City climate and energy action learnings during COVID19

Mitigating climate change in cities is one of the most important global climate policy aims due to the majority of emissions stemming from city production and consumption (IPCC 2022). Before COVID-19, thousands of city governments set ambitious climate action plans, including net zero and renewable energy commitments. This study investigates how COVID-19 and recovery packages affected city-level plans and actions. This paper draws on net zero, resilience and COVID-19 recovery literature, an original survey of 30 cities from countries in the global north and south: Argentina, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, Mozambique, the Philippines, South Africa, Sweden, Turkey the United Kingdom and the United States, and initial interviews with city leaders in select megacities: Jakarta and London. Results show that cities’ climate ambitions vary widely by region, as do the impacts of COVID-19 and recovery progress towards those goals. Many cities experienced delays as they pivoted to crisis response. Others benefited from new national green recovery policy frameworks and financing streams. Almost two years since the declaration of the end of the pandemic, COVID-19 has not fundamentally transformed cities in either the negative or promising ways that were predicted. While these lessons for city transformations are clear, lessons for cities in tackling climate crises in the ongoing era of the “polycrisis” seem useful to underscore. This paper identifies recommendations that would enable cities to leverage their COVID-19 experiences for tackling climate mitigation in the context of a projected increase in frequency and severity of shocks. Practice abstract Mitigating climate change in cities is one of the most important global climate policy aims due to the majority of emissions stemming from city production and consumption (IPCC 2022). Before COVID-19, thousands of cities set ambitious climate action plans, including net zero and renewable energy commitments. This study investigates how COVID-19 and recovery packages affected plans and actions. Results show that cities’ climate ambitions vary widely by region, as do the impacts of COVID-19 and recovery progress towards those goals. Many cities experienced delays as they pivoted to crisis response. Others benefited from new national green recovery policy frameworks and financing streams. This paper identifies recommendations that suggest cities might leverage COVID-19 learnings as well as potentially realise more effective responses to ongoing crises.