IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/rensus/v215y2025ics1364032125002904.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Urban decarbonization policies and strategies: A sectoral review

Author

Listed:
  • Soares, F.
  • Silva, M.C.
  • Azevedo, I.

Abstract

Cities hold the lion's share of global greenhouse gas emissions. The continued increase of urbanization rates and the contribution of urban activities to climate change places urban areas at the heart of global decarbonization efforts. Cities worldwide have implemented a diversity of policy agendas, with those from the European Union being amongst the most ambitious, seeking to become net-zero by 2050. This study provides a literature review of decarbonization policies and strategies in global cities across sectors (e.g. buildings, transport, digitalization and cross-cutting programs). It aims at identifying existing trends and gaps in policy adoption and implementation, as well as the respective challenges and opportunities to help grasp the most effective policies in each sector. The role of different stakeholders in urban decarbonization is also discussed, alongside the key factors of successful policy deployment, including the importance of monitoring and evaluation. This review is expected to provide useful insights to local level decision-makers, as further decarbonization efforts are needed in the pursuit of carbon neutrality goals, and climate change mitigation.

Suggested Citation

  • Soares, F. & Silva, M.C. & Azevedo, I., 2025. "Urban decarbonization policies and strategies: A sectoral review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 215(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:215:y:2025:i:c:s1364032125002904
    DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2025.115617
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032125002904
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.rser.2025.115617?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lei Li & Soon-Thiam Khu & Jia Wang & Mingna Wang, 2023. "Advances in the application of smartphones in hydrology," Water International, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(3), pages 358-378, April.
    2. Saswati Sarmah & Lakhanlal & Biraj Kumar Kakati & Dhanapati Deka, 2023. "Recent advancement in rechargeable battery technologies," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(2), March.
    3. Peter T. Pellitier & Michelle Ng & Sierra R. Castaneda & Susanne C. Moser & Britt D. Wray, 2023. "Embracing climate emotions to advance higher education," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 13(11), pages 1148-1150, November.
    4. Pramit Verma & Justyna Chodkowska‐Miszczuk & Agata Lewandowska & Łukasz Wiśniewski, 2023. "Local resilience for low‐carbon transition in Poland: Frameworks, conditions and opportunities for Central European countries," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(3), pages 1278-1295, June.
    5. Brian Azzopardi & Abdul Hapid & Sunarto Kaleg & Sudirja & Djulia Onggo & Alexander C. Budiman, 2023. "Recent Advances in Battery Pack Polymer Composites," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(17), pages 1-23, August.
    6. Jiahao Shen & Runze Liu & Yanling Lin & Ridwan Lanre Ibrahim, 2023. "Technological advancement and regulatory quality," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 35(4), pages 336-350, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Fulton, Lewis & Gruen, Jonathan, 2024. "Zero-Emission Trucks: Benefits Analysis and Policy Synergy Recommendations," Institute of Transportation Studies, Working Paper Series qt2gh6x0x1, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis.
    2. Guido Busca, 2024. "Critical Aspects of Energetic Transition Technologies and the Roles of Materials Chemistry and Engineering," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(14), pages 1-32, July.
    3. Suparat Jamsawang & Saharat Chanthanumataporn & Kittiwoot Sutthivirode & Tongchana Thongtip, 2024. "Investigation of the Performance of Battery Thermal Management Based on Direct Refrigerant Cooling: Simulation, Validation of Results, and Parametric Studies," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(2), pages 1-24, January.
    4. Etienne Inedit Blaise Tsomb Tsomb & Lyvane Pervange Nembot Nguitchou, 2024. "The vulnerability to climate change in Africa: Does industrial development matter?," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 36(2), pages 222-238, June.
    5. Albert Sanghoon Park, 2024. "Understanding resilience in sustainable development: Rallying call or siren song?," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(1), pages 260-274, February.
    6. Paolo De Sio & Marica Gaito & Vitantonio Esperto & Ersilia Cozzolino & Antonello Astarita & Fausto Tucci, 2025. "Life Cycle Assessment of a Composite Prototype Battery Enclosure for Electric Vehicles," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-14, February.
    7. Frantál, Bohumil & Chodkowska-Miszczuk, Justyna M. & Alexandrescu, Filip & Stölzel, Franziska & Klusáček, Petr & Konečný, Ondřej & Süsser, Diana & Lewandowska, Agata & Zieliński, Dominik, 2025. "With coal forever? Conflicted attitudes of residents in coal mining areas in the Czech Republic, Germany and Poland to coal phase-out," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    8. Chakraborty, Debapriya PhD & Konstantinou, Theodora PhD & Gutierrez Lopez, Julia Beatriz MSc & Tal, Gil, 2024. "Assessing the Total Cost of Ownership of Electric Vehicles among California Households," Institute of Transportation Studies, Working Paper Series qt3jh4f34x, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:215:y:2025:i:c:s1364032125002904. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/600126/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.