Background
Barcelona has a long history developing leading policies related to climate change and its effects. The City committed to Local Agenda 21 from the outset and has been developing policies to promote a sustainable development model for more than 30 years. In 2002 the first Citizens’ Commitment to Sustainability (2002-2012) was approved, which was renewed and extended 10 years later (2012-2022). At the end of 2020, the City Council adopted the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda as guiding principles of its development strategy, providing quantifiable targets adapted to the city and committing to annually assessing the city’s performance in relation to the SDGs.
In November 2024, the Government Measure for the Climate Plan was approved, which brings previous plans up to date in accordance with current climate targets. This draws from the City Climate Contract submitted by the City Council to the European Commission as a member of the “100 Climate Neutral and Smart Cities by 2030” European mission (where the city has committed to reduce in a 80% the GHG emissions by 2030, which means a 15% reduction per year), as well as from the Climate Emergency Action Plan 2030 and the Citizen Commitment for a More Sustainable Barcelona 2024-2034.
This plan places climate-oriented policies at the heart of municipal action, thereby increasing already strong commitments. This Plan sets out a roadmap concerning energy transition (Energy Transition Plan), mobility (Mobility Plan), climate resilience (Resilience Plan), extreme weather events (Heat Plan), and citizen action (Let’s Change for the Climate Plan), involving Barcelona’s neighbourhoods in all these initiatives (Neighbourhood Climate Plan), with regard to both climate mitigation and adaptation.
In order to fulfil the commitment Barcelona has formalised in its Climate City Contract, the City needs to identify the necessary instruments and regulatory/legal frameworks to enable achievement of this goal. In this regard, the City wishes to explore how, within the competencies of the Barcelona City Council, this regulatory/legal framework could be used and eventually innovated to support and accelerate decarbonisation and adaptation.
At the same time, it is recognised that, to encourage both organisations and citizens to take measures to decarbonise their activities or lifestyles, it is essential to provide them with adequate incentives to promote the envisioned change. Accordingly, the city must determine, within the existing regulatory/legal framework, which fiscal instruments (such as incentives, tax reliefs, etc.) can be created within municipal competencies to foster and accelerate decarbonisation and adaptation. This regulatory/legal framework plays a crucial role in the development of public policies, as it provides the foundation and justification for the formulation of specific policies while ensuring legal certainty and offering guarantees regarding municipal actions. Having a legal framework that is adapted to the current reality – one that fosters innovation, facilitates, and accelerates decarbonisation and adaptation – is the first step towards the ambitious municipal goals in this field.
About the request
The City Expert Support Facility (CESF), through NetZeroCities / Climate-KIC, are requesting quotation for legal and strategic advisory services to analyse and propose innovations in the regulatory, legal, and fiscal framework supporting Barcelona’s decarbonisation and climate action efforts.
The requested support aims to deliver a detailed investigation and analysis of the following areas, identifying opportunities and practical recommendations:
- Existing regulatory and legal Spanish and Catalan frameworks within the competencies of the Barcelona City Council that affect decarbonisation and climate action efforts.
- Opportunities for innovation or reform in the existing Spanish legal framework for municipalities to enhance climate action, both through leveraging current regulations and proposing new instruments.
- Existing fiscal instruments (such as incentives and tax reliefs) and propose new or adapted measures to foster citizen and organisational engagement in decarbonisation and climate action efforts.
- Possibilities for more effective use of municipal revenues to finance accelerated climate actions, building on and enhancing existing tools such as climate budgeting.
The investigation/analysis should:
- Benchmark against other municipalities in Catalonia and Spain, identifying best practices that Barcelona could adopt.
- Develop suggested innovations that build on existing best practices to establish even more advanced practices to accelerate actions in support of effective climate actions.
- Assess potential for replication across both Catalan and Spain, developed with input from and collaboration with the CitiES2030 Spanish national platform.
- Describe findings and suggestions for Barcelona in detailed report (written in Catalan and translated to English), suitable for presentation to the Climate Plan Executive Committee and for discussion with NetZeroCities policy innovation leaders.
Associated tasks/expected inputs include:
- Legal and regulatory review.
- Policy and fiscal analysis.
- Benchmarking and comparative study.
- Design suggestions for new practice innovations, including considerations related to replication potential.
- Drafting and presentation of final report.
- Ongoing liaison with the City Council team and NZC Consortium Partners working with Barcelona during the project.
The proposal should consider the following:
- Financial and fiscal innovation to support decarbonisation: The proposal should clearly specify which laws, legal frameworks and fiscal instruments will be analysed in relation to the Barcelona City Council’s competencies. Special attention should be given to identifying how existing tax policies and financial mechanisms could be adapted or innovated to accelerate decarbonisation and climate action at the municipal level.
- Inclusion of a Just Transition perspective: The proposal must embed a Just Transition lens throughout, ensuring that any suggested innovations in taxation and financing promote fairness, equity, and social cohesion. Proposed measures should be sensitive to the diverse socio-economic realities of citizens and organisations in Barcelona, aiming to leave no one behind in the transition towards climate neutrality.
- Replicability and scaling: This study will not only support Barcelona’s progress within the Climate City Contract but will also be shared with municipalities across Spain. The aim is to provide them with a clear picture of the current legal and fiscal landscape and offer inspiration for how local tax and finance systems can be leveraged to accelerate decarbonisation and climate action and adaptation. As such, the report has strong replication potential and will contribute to scaling impact beyond a single city.
Please find all further relevant information including key tasks, foreseen timeline, full detailed scope, out of scope, milestones, and all related information below.
Timeline and additional information
Interested parties are invited to submit their proposals by 09 June 2025 (23:59 CET) to Luisa Carretti / Mateusz Hoffman [CESF@netzerocities.eu]. Proposals should include and address all specific requirements related to the request which can be found below.
