Climate Plan (SECAP)

Climate Plan (SECAP) – one of the important steps in community development

Every community cares about strategic development and improving the quality of comfortable living. One of the most important development steps is the drafting of a “Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan” (SECAP, also known as a climate plan), which involves developing a set of strategic projects aimed at improving all spheres and sectors of a city (community, district, region), taking into account possible funding sources and implementation tools, and, in particular, their impact on reducing CO2 emissions.

“A SECAP is not just a document drawn up once. It is a working document that needs to be used both when planning actions in the field of energy efficiency and climate change adaptation, and when developing individual projects to fulfil the community’s overall strategy”, notes Halyna Zhuravska, an expert in sustainable energy development, in the article “Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plans: Common Mistakes and Best Examples”, published on the website of the NGO Ecoclub.

During the enemy’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the need for communities to complete their SECAPs thoroughly is growing. Missile strikes have caused destruction of residential and utility infrastructure buildings in various oblasts, so planning preventive actions and measures to restore buildings, boiler houses and other critical infrastructure will help withstand the russian invasion and make a city’s or community’s infrastructure resilient to possible energy risks in the event of other threats.

“It would therefore be appropriate in future to include a separate section in the SECAP on community resilience: risks to infrastructure associated with damage from military action”, – adds Ms Halyna.

A SECAP is a detailed document that includes an introduction, a description of the city/community, a description of the energy system, a Baseline Emission Inventory (BEI), a list of mitigation measures, an assessment of climate-related risks and vulnerabilities, a list of adaptation measures, financing, and additional information. A well-executed SECAP opens the door to attracting investment into a community. This is an important aspect, since some communities draw up their SECAP as an investment plan, which enables them to be effective in preparing projects and seeking financing.

As of 2023, at least 15 communities (⅕ of the oblast’s communities) have a developed SECAP. For example, the Tetiiv amalgamated territorial community of Kyiv Oblast has a Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan through 2030, which you can view on the website of Tetiiv City Council.

Bila Tserkva, Fastiv and the Slavutych communities also have developed SECAPs, which have already been in effect since 2017–2018.

Halyna Zhuravska’s analytical material will help you look at more examples of SECAPs, their advantages and common mistakes when drafting them, so we are sharing a link to the article for your reference: https://ecoclubrivne.org/secap_types/