Reacting with recognition? Identifying vulnerability, governance and justice in local heat adaptation planning among 83 C40 cities

As the realities of climate change continue to impact local weather through higher temperatures for longer periods of time, local governments are increasingly tasked with balancing short- and long-term public health and planning efforts which are affected by these increasing temperatures. The burden of extreme heat is not borne equally throughout cities and vulnerable groups are likely to be disproportionately affected, presenting a pervasive problem of distributive injustice. To overcome this, city-level actions should practice recognitional justice, adequately integrating vulnerability into the adaptation context and planning. To assess the current state of such recognitional justice, this study presents a content analysis to understand if and how vulnerability is defined and considered among cities involved in the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group ( n = 83 ), a collaborative program which brings together mayors across the world to work together on a variety of climate policy matters. 74 of the 83 cities include a definition of vulnerability, representing cities across all climates, income brackets and types of heat planning. The results show significant heterogeneity in how recognitional justice is practiced – explicitly naming one or more of fourteen specific vulnerable groups - reflecting the localized approach taken by city governments and the unique needs of individual communities. While 96% of planning documents include definitions of vulnerability and concrete objectives, only 53% explicitly integrate vulnerability into these objectives, suggesting there is still a significant gap between recognitional justice and practice.