Tackling Climate Change at the City Level: Insights from Lighthouse Cities' Climate Mitigation Efforts

Mehmet Efe Biresselioglu^1* Funda Zehra Savas¹ Muhittin H. Demir¹ Cigdem Kentmen-Cin¹

• ¹İzmir University of Economics, Türkiye

The link between lifestyles and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions has prioritised climate mitigation strategies of cities worldwide. As cities have increasingly generated GHG emissions by their industrial and transportation activities, their role in climate mitigation has gained prominence. Cities' climate mitigation policies to reduce the GHG intensity of their residents' daily lives are one of their significant efforts to tackle climate change. Lighthouse Cities (LCs), in particular, have emerged as remarkable actors in promoting lifestyle changes for their residents. In this sense, this study examines climate mitigation strategies of LCs of Climate CAMPAIGNers project, including Baku, Vilnius, Lahti, Izmir, Trujillo, Athens, Linz, Milan, Cape Town, Dublin, Skopelos, and Malmö, addressing lifestyle changes by conducting an expert survey in twelve LCs involving 90 respondents. The findings of the expert survey are comparatively analyzed across twelve LCs and shed light on climate actions that can be implemented in the LCs. This study enhances the understanding of cities' capacity to reduce their residents' GHG emissions.