Keywords
mandatory plan
adaptation planning
climate change
population
How to Cite
Abstract
Adaptation planning in Polish cities has been optional and has focused mainly on the largest cities with more than 100,000 residents. The enactment of the Act of November 27, 2024, amending the Law – Environmental Protection Law and certain other laws, introduces an obligation for all cities with 20,000 residents and more to have a climate change adaptation plan. The question arises: Will the new planning obligation pose a major challenge for cities in the province? This study examined the status of climate change adaptation planning in all 119 cities in the Wielkopolska Province. The material for the study consisted of resolutions of City Councils published on the official websites of City Offices or in the Public Information Bulletin from 01.01.2015 to 30.06.2025 on climate change adaptation planning. The obligation to have a municipal climate change adaptation plan (MPA) by January 2, 2028, applies to 17 cities (according to the population as of 31.12.2024), which accounts for 14% of all cities in the Wielkopolska Province. In this group, the two largest cities – Poznań and Kalisz – have a municipal adaptation plan enacted in accordance with the Act of November 27, 2024, another 14 cities have an adaptation document prepared or are in the process of preparing one, and one city has not started the procedure for preparing a plan. Making it mandatory to have a municipal adaptation plan has significantly increased the number of cities starting to prepare MPAs. However, making adaptation planning dependent on city size perpetuates the existing relationship between city size and the advancement of climate change adaptation planning. A declining urban population may reduce the number of cities in the province required to have a municipal adaptation plan.
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