Actions to mitigate climate change and those to adapt to its impacts are two sides of the same coin: both are fundamental components of effective climate policy, as well as being central to the commitment made by European Covenant of Mayors (CoM) Signatories that undertake to develop Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plans (SECAPs).

It makes sense to consider these streams of action together – not only to exploit synergies (reducing climate risks at the same time as carbon emissions) but also to avoid lock-in to counterproductive measures (e.g. investing in energy infrastructure likely to be damaged by extreme weather events). Yet despite the many good reasons to integrate them, there are barriers to doing so.

Within a city administration, one major obstacle to overcome is that responsibilities for mitigation and adaptation are likely to belong to staff in different departments. This means that disciplinary silos need to be bridged in order to bring the two streams together, which may demand changes to inter-departmental dynamics and working processes. In addition, interactions between measures with potential for both mitigation and adaptation continue to be under-explored.

This session brings together a range of perspectives and concrete examples on integrating adaptation and mitigation, with a view to inspiring further thinking and action on this subject. Challenges and potential ways to overcome them will be discussed.