Ecological transition in a World Heritage City: The case of San Cristóbal de La Laguna (Canary Islands)

Abstract

The city of La Laguna is one of the largest urban areas of the Canary Islands archipelago, located on the volcanic island of Tenerife (Spain), whose energy demand results in a large carbon footprint due to the typical fossil fuel dependency of oceanic islands. In 2019, La Laguna joined the initiative under the new Climate and Energy Pact and has been working ever since to achieve the EU target of reducing by 55% greenhouse gases emissions by 2030. In this work, we present the results obtained from the study conducted of emissions of the city, focused on buildings, equipment and facilities (1), public lighting (2), transportation (3) and agriculture, forestry and fishing (4) sectors. To this end, emissions in 2009 were studied and compared with those in 2019, resulting in a 4% to 48% carbon dioxide emissions reduction in the last decade. To achieve the goal of reductions of more than 55% by 2030, the city council prepared a Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan (SECAP), in which they propose that successfully implemented measures would achieve a 64% reduction in emissions in the municipality.