An Assessment Framework for the Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plans and their Contribution to Urban Biodiversity in Northern Italy

This paper aims at assessing the contribution of the sustainable energy and climate action plans (SECAP) to conserving natural habitats and improving biodiversity from a sample of 24 provincial capital cities in Northern Italy. The plans are systematically analyzed through a quantitative assessment binary framework that took into consideration five criteria: (1) strategies and actions linked to biodiversity, (2) monitoring indicators and (3) expected costs and resources needed to implement the actions, (4) tools and mechanisms of public participation and community engagement, and (5) account of vulnerable groups and context-specific vulnerabilities in the plan. Findings highlight the multiple actions related to urban biodiversity, where the attention is not just on new urban greening interventions but also on experimenting with new forms of management of green areas and monitoring the plant and animal species. Moreover, the relevant role that context-specific vulnerabilities and path-dependent factors play in each city toward defining the components of the SECAP emerges. One limitation concerns the significant trade-offs between the urgency of climate change threats and the weak actions put in place, constricted by limited financial resources and scarce expertise in the local governments.