As cities worldwide strive to address the urgent challenges of climate change, benchmarking climate action plans serves as a vital tool to assess progress, identify areas for improvement, and promote best practices. This discussion brings together climate policy experts, city representatives, and reporting specialists to delve into the process of benchmarking, including:

 

Identifying gaps and setting priorities – panellists will discuss how benchmarking enables cities to identify gaps and areas where their climate action plans may be falling short. They will explore how benchmarking results can help set priorities, allocate resources, and develop targeted strategies to address identified gaps and accelerate progress towards climate goals. This extends into how benchmarking can keep cities and their staff accountable, keeping transparency and public trust front of mind.

 

Continuous improvement and adaptation – the session will emphasise the iterative nature of benchmarking and its role in driving agility and continuous improvement in climate action plans. They will discuss how benchmarking results can inform plan updates, policy adjustments, and the integration of new technologies and strategies to address emerging challenges and opportunities.