A sustainability project manager has cycled over 300km across Italy to deliver and sign a key document between two flagship urban climate action initiatives, both funded by the European Union, at the CIVITAS Forum in Parma, Italy.
The agreement creates a vital partnership for hundreds of European cities striving to reach climate neutrality and improve the health and wellbeing of their citizens.
Thomas Haddock, originally from Scotland and now based in Italy, cycled to Parma from San Remo over three days to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that connects NetZeroCities, the platform that supports the EU Cities Mission and the 112 Mission Cities aiming to be climate neutral by 2030, and the CIVITAS Initiative, one of the European Commission’s flagship programmes that supports cities to make sustainable and smart urban mobility a reality for all.
Around 75% of EU citizens live in urban areas, where the effects of greenhouse gas emissions and noise pollution from transport most keenly damage health and life quality. Emissions from transport make up a quarter of the EU’s overall emissions, showing both the necessity and the potential of taking bold action on sustainable transport.
The MoU, signed on stage in front of forum participants on 1st October, outlines how the two initiatives will work together to strengthen support for cities to develop sustainable mobility systems as a cornerstone of their transition to climate neutrality. This includes: joint learning opportunities; sharing best practices; regular meetings, where experts will contribute to the related policy work of their counterparts; and monitoring the progress of both initiatives on jointly agreed objectives.
Thomas Haddock said:
“Embarking on a cycling journey from Sanremo to Parma for the CIVITAS Forum is not just about enjoying the breathtaking beauty of the Italian countryside, although it did cross my mind—it serves as a powerful reminder of the essential role that active mobility plays in achieving climate neutrality. As we sign the memorandum of understanding between NetZeroCities and CIVITAS, I want to emphasise the significance of this formal collaboration in aligning our shared visions. Together, we are committed to fostering collaboration and facilitating the exchange of knowledge across our networks, empowering cities and communities on their paths to climate neutrality. Designing urban spaces that prioritise people and integrate innovative mobility solutions are crucial for a just transition. When executed thoughtfully, these efforts will lead to happier, healthier, and more resilient communities—an aspiration that resonates with us all.”
Gianluca Borghi, Parma Deputy Mayor for Environmental Sustainability, Energy and Mobility, said:
“A mobility renaissance is needed to make European cities climate neutral. In Parma, we consider sustainable mobility a key driver for enhancing quality of life and achieving our climate goals. Having received the prestigious ‘Mission Label’ in March 2024, it shows our commitment to ambitious actions that integrate our Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan within the broader Parma Climate City Contract—demonstrating our cross-sectoral approach to climate neutrality. We are honoured to host the signing of the memorandum of understanding between NetZeroCities and CIVITAS, as we believe this collaboration will support us and other cities progress towards climate neutrality with a truly holistic approach.”
Eddy Liégeois, Acting Director, Investment, Innovative & Sustainable Transport, European Commission, said:
“This agreement represents an important step in advancing our shared goal of climate-neutral cities across Europe. By aligning the efforts of NetZeroCities and the CIVITAS Initiative, we are creating stronger synergies that will enable cities to better tackle the challenges of sustainable urban mobility. Coordination at both the local and European levels will help ensure more efficient use of resources. By working together, we can provide cities with the necessary tools and knowledge to make tangible progress towards cleaner, healthier urban environments for all EU citizens.”
Andreas Piller, a sustainable mobility expert who represented ICLEI Europe in its role as coordinator of the CIVITAS Initiative at the ceremony, said:
“The specific ambition of the Cities Mission – climate neutrality by 2030 in 112 cities across Europe – is laudable and inspiring. The CIVITAS Initiative has supported research and innovation towards sustainable and smart urban mobility for more than twenty years, but never before in pursuit of such a singular, specific, urgent target. This collaboration gives new impetus to CIVITAS efforts and new opportunities for its knowledge and solutions to have impact. The holistic approach being advanced by the EU Cities Mission and its Mission Platform NetZeroCities, in particular with the Climate City Contract process is necessary to success, and our collaboration will help ensure that cities can deliver meaningful results in terms of sustainable mobility – systematically and efficiently. Together we’re putting the wheels of climate neutrality in motion.”
Wolfgang Backhaus, NetZeroCities Contact Point for the MoU, said:
“The cooperation between NetZeroCities and the CIVITAS Initiative is a very valuable capacity building symbiosis for these two EU initiatives. Since I am familiar with both initiatives, I particularly see the complementarity between the systemic transition approaches on the way to climate neutrality of cities, which are more strongly highlighted in NetZeroCities and offer the CIVITAS community very valuable impulses for the topics of the mobility transition at policy and governance level. And conversely, the transfer of concrete innovations from the CIVITAS projects and thematic areas communities, which advance the concrete implementation of the mobility transition. In particular, in addition to the generally well-known paths towards climate-neutral mobility, such as electrification of fleets, low-emission zones or mobility management initiatives, CIVITAS contributes to the transfer of innovations related to digitalisation and smart mobility services to NetZeroCities.”
ENDS
Background for editors:
NetZeroCities is a consortium of 34 partners from all across Europe managing the Platform of the EU Cities Mission. It is coordinated by EIT Climate-KIC, Europe’s largest public-private innovation partnership focused on climate innovation to mitigate and adapt to climate change.
NetZeroCities supports the 112 European cities selected by the European Commission to join the EU Cities Mission in drastically reducing their greenhouse gas emissions to achieve climate neutrality. It works as a service-oriented platform supported by world-class practitioners to help cities overcome the current structural, institutional, and cultural barriers they face to achieve climate neutrality by 2030.
NetZeroCities aims to enable European cities and citizens to show the way forward towards an inclusive, thriving, climate resilient and sustainable future. To do so, it tailors advanced capabilities related to systemic change, citizen engagement and democratic governance, capital and financial structuring, and social innovation, to ensure cities have access to the best expertise available anywhere in the world.
CIVITAS is a flagship initiative of the European Commission that has for more than twenty years helped to achieve its ambitious mobility and transport goals, including the EU Green Deal. CIVITAS MUSE, the current Coordination and Support Action project at the centre of the Initiative, is coordinated by ICLEI Europe.
The CIVITAS Initiative aims to help local governments deliver clean, cross-cutting, smart, sustainable, affordable, innovative, and climate-neutral mobility solutions. As part of the Horizon Europe programme, CIVITAS facilitates research, the validation of results, the uptake of solutions, the exchange of knowledge and best practices, and common learning among its network of cities, affiliated projects, and diverse stakeholders across the urban mobility community. It does this through a broad range of activities, all in pursuit of sustainable and smart mobility for all.
Media contact – alan.mackenzie@iclei.org
