NetZeroCities was in Glasgow to highlight the crucial role of cities in achieving rapid decarbonisation.

COP26, which took place from 31 October to 12 November 2021, is the world’s leading climate change summit, bringing together more than 190 world leaders and hundreds of thousands of government representatives, businesses and citizens in Glasgow. The summit aimed to accelerate action towards achieving the goals of the Paris agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Cities are central to this goal, as they are centers of economic activity, knowledge generation, innovation and new technologies. They influence the quality of life of citizens who live or work in them and are major contributors to global challenges. In a context where a substantial intensification of decarbonisation and an acceleration of the timescale for achieving it are crucial, cities have a leading role to play in meeting the climate goals and targets set out by international policy frameworks such as the COP21 Paris Agreement.

During the Cities, Regions and Built Environment Day at COP26 (bringing together national, regional and city level leaders, alongside the private sector) , Matthew Baldwin from the European Commission explained how the new EU Mission ‘100 Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities’ will support Europe in its ambition to achieve climate neutrality before 2050 with Cities leading in this respect.

Coordinator of NetZeroCities Thomas Osdoba presented NetZeroCities on 9 November and explained how the project will be providing cities with comprehensive & sustained support to embrace the urgency of climate neutrality by 2030 as part of the EU’s Mission “100 Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities’.

Re-watch Thomas Osdoba’s intervention at COP26 (from 4:22:14 onwards): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vorl1IwT8o