In the French city of Marseille, six local businesses have received awards at a high-profile event for their exemplary achievements in climate change mitigation and adaptation, encouraging others to follow suit.

The Climate Pioneers 2030 awards showcase local business’s climate work and were presented at a ceremony during the Climate Chance Europe Africa Summit.

Nominees were selected in four climate change mitigation categories by city partners AtmoSud, the air quality observatory in the South Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region, while partners GREC SUD, a group of climate experts in the region, identified nominees for an adaptation category. A jury of experts evaluated all nominees to determine the winners, and a People’s Choice Award will be determined by a public vote.

And the winners are…

  • Climate Change Adaptation: Adapting to Climate Change. Winner: Friche Belle de Mai

This cultural site is transforming 45,000m² of heavily urbanised space through comprehensive revegetation. Their ecological redirection masterplan demonstrates forward thinking in anticipating social and ecological challenges posed by the changing climate.

  • Climate Change Mitigation – Training, Mobilisation, Awareness-raising. Winner: Ninety

Taking an innovative approach to digital sustainability, Ninety offers on-site experiences at their factory where visitors can discover the repair and reconditioning process for digital devices and directly engage with professionals working in this field.

  • Climate Change Mitigation – Mobility and a Calmer City. Winner: La boite à vélos

Addressing urban logistics emissions, this company provides free, customised electric cargo bicycles to businesses for their logistical needs, demonstrating how cycling infrastructure can be integrated into business value chains.

  • Climate Change Mitigation – Nature in the City, Food, Sea and Coastline. Winner: Le Présage

Pioneering a post-petroleum restaurant model, Le Présage utilises solar-powered professional kitchen equipment, bio-sourced building materials, locally sourced seasonal produce, and comprehensive waste reduction strategies to create new business models for sustainable dining.

  • Climate Change Mitigation – Resource Shift & Buildings of Tomorrow. Winner: Sénova

Sénova is a design office that supports condominium associations in comprehensive energy renovation projects that deliver significant CO2 reductions, energy savings, and renewable energy production, alongside property greening initiatives.

  • ‘Coup de cœur du public’ (People’s Choice Award): Winner : Massilian Sun System

This cooperative collects public savings to install and operate photovoltaic renewable energy production plants on roofs or shaded areas. Where necessary, the installation work is accompanied by roof insulation work to reduce the building’s energy demand.

The high-profile event provided the winners with a platform to showcase their work to local decision-makers, economic actors, and civil society members working towards climate goals. As winners, they will receive tailored support to develop their climate actions, including risk assessment assistance from Ramboll, support from Atelier 2 tonnes, legal guidance from Arca avocat to initiate CSR (corporate social responsibility) approaches, and additional expertise from Reset4impact and Rive Neuve. Their achievements will be promoted through the local press and social media, and they will have European-level visibility via the network of the EU Cities Mission.

“Exemplarity is not a way of influencing others. It is the only way.” – Albert Schweitzer

The initiative is part of Marseille’s project ‘Marseille 2030 Objectif Climat: A Just Pact to Now Act (Mars2030ClimatNowAct),’ which is part of the EU Mission to deliver 100 Climate Neutral and Smart Cities. Through the awards, the city and their partners hope to demonstrate the positive impacts of climate work and the benefits that come with it, and to inspire other companies.

Beyond AtmoSud and the City of Marseille, the initiative brings together diverse organisations including Cité des Transitions, Marséa, Les Entrepreneurs de l’Huveaune Vallée, Aix Marseille Université, the Human Impact Institute, La Cité des Entrepreneurs Euroméditerranée, and the Convention des Entreprises pour le Climat, leveraging important partnerships in tackling climate challenges.

By facilitating industry dialogue and championing practical climate solutions, Marseille is showcasing how cities and businesses can work together on their climate neutrality goals, and how these actors will need to work together to solve major climate challenges in the future.

Following the Climate Chance Summit, members of the French National Mirror Group also came together with NetZeroCities representatives in working sessions to explore their learnings from the design and the implementation of their investment plans and better refine funding needs and strategies.