Assessing climate justice awareness among climate neutral-to-be cities

Climate justice, encompassing responsibility for climate change, its impacts, and responses, has gained prominence in academic and policy debates. While its normative value is established, operationalizing it remains a challenge. This study aims to evaluate the operational value of climate justice by assessing policymakers' awareness of justice concerns in climate decision-making, particularly at the urban level. Cities are crucial in mitigating climate change, accounting for a significant portion of greenhouse gas emissions. The European Mission on 100 Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities provides a unique opportunity to analyze climate action planning across diverse urban contexts within a common framework. This study leverages data from this mission to build an index and analyze the factors that affect climate justice awareness in urban planning, addressing the heterogeneity in climate action across cities and potentially identifying predictors for improved justice awareness.

While academic interest in climate justice is growing, its operational value has been debated due to a lack of specific metrics for assessing its inclusion in climate policies. Existing studies often use qualitative analysis of limited city samples, hindering robust comparability and interpretability. This study distinguishes itself by employing a quantitative approach on a large dataset from the European Cities Mission, providing a more robust and comparable assessment of climate justice considerations across multiple cities. Critiques of technocratic approaches to urban climate planning that neglect social inequalities are addressed by focusing on operationalizing justice frameworks to achieve both climate and social justice goals. Existing literature emphasizes the importance of evaluating the degree of justice awareness in climate action planning, particularly within diverse urban environments.

The study uses data from the European Mission on 100 Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities, encompassing 362 cities across 35 countries. The data, collected through a comprehensive questionnaire, assesses cities' preparedness, engagement, and ambition in climate action, along with their consideration of climate justice principles. Principal component analysis (PCA) was employed to create indices for: (i) climate engagement (CE), reflecting efforts in climate mitigation and adaptation; and (ii) climate justice awareness (CJA), encompassing recognitional, distributive, procedural, and intergenerational justice pillars. The CJA index was calculated as the simple average of the four justice pillar indices. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression with cluster-robust standard errors (clustering by country) was then used to analyze the relationship between CJA (dependent variable) and CE and city-specific factors (population density, GDP per capita, favorable climate conditions, legal powers, identified barriers, and government support). The analysis was conducted on the whole dataset and then separately for three geographical groups of countries (Eastern, North-Western, and Southern Europe) to account for regional variations. Preliminary tests (Bartlett's test and Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure) were conducted to ensure the suitability of the indexes generated through PCA.

The PCA yielded reliable indices for both climate engagement (CE) and climate justice awareness (CJA). Correlation analysis showed a strong positive correlation between CE and CJA (p<0.01), indicating that cities with greater climate engagement tend to incorporate more climate justice considerations. Several city-specific factors also showed significant positive correlations with CJA: GDP per capita, city legal powers, various forms of government support (financial, reporting, coordination, technical, skills, dissemination, capacity building, policy regulation, financial advisory), perceptions of favorable economic conditions, and the number of identified barriers. Population density showed only a mild positive correlation. Conversely, perceptions of favorable geo-climatic conditions were negatively correlated with CJA. OLS regression analysis confirmed the positive relationship between CE and CJA across all models (whole dataset and geographical groups). Governmental support for capacity building and financial advisory services positively influenced CJA in the general model and several geographical groups. The breadth of a city's legal powers also showed a positive relationship. Perceptions of favorable geo-climatic conditions had a negative impact. Regional variations were observed: In North-western cities, population density and government coordination support were additional positive predictors. In Southern cities, government support in reporting and resource mobilization also showed positive effects. In Eastern cities, government financial support, capacity building and project development/implementation significantly contributed to CJA, while favorable climate and financial situation perceptions were negatively correlated. All regression models demonstrated moderate to good fit (R² > 0.5).

The findings confirm the operational value of climate justice, demonstrating a positive link between climate engagement and justice awareness in urban climate action planning. The positive correlation between CE and CJA highlights the synergistic potential of integrating climate and social justice objectives. Wealthier cities, those with broader legal powers, and those receiving significant government support tend to show higher climate justice awareness. The negative correlation with favorable climate conditions suggests that a perceived lack of urgency might reduce the focus on social justice aspects. Regional variations emphasize the importance of considering contextual factors, such as governance structures, historical legacies, and socio-economic characteristics, when designing and implementing climate policies. The study suggests that targeted support mechanisms might be necessary to address justice concerns effectively across diverse regions and urban contexts.

This study empirically demonstrates the positive relationship between climate engagement and climate justice awareness in European cities. Higher levels of climate engagement are associated with greater consideration of social justice aspects in urban climate action. Government support and broader legal powers are crucial enablers of justice-aware climate action. Future research should explore causal relationships, investigate the diverse understandings of climate justice among urban decision-makers and citizens, and analyze the actual implementation of climate justice principles in the selected cities as the Cities Mission progresses. The insights gained can inform international and European climate frameworks, such as the Race to Zero campaign, to maximize the synergistic effects of climate and social justice goals.

The study relies on self-reported data from a survey, which may be subject to biases. The analysis focuses on cities participating in the European Cities Mission, potentially limiting the generalizability of the findings to other cities or regions. Correlation does not imply causation; further research is needed to establish causal relationships between the identified factors and climate justice awareness. The study's focus is on the planning phase; future research should examine the actual implementation of climate actions and their justice implications.