For any city’s climate transition to be effective and sustainable, it will also have to be just – ready to support its poorest and most vulnerable citizens. In our first guest blog outside the NetZeroCities consortium, Vangelis Marinakis, an assistant professor at the National Technical University of Athens and president of DAEM, the city’s IT company, explains how Greece’s capital is doing so, from a one-stop-shop to counter energy poverty, to waiving municipal fees for energy-poor households.  Imagine a city where energy vulnerability is not just acknowledged but actively addressed, setting a new standard for equity [...]

Barcelona is well known as one of the world’s most liveable cities, but it hasn’t become one by accident. Lilybell Evergreen, from NetZeroCities’ partner Demos Helsinki, recently spent a week there through the EU Cities Mission project REALLOCATE and reflects here on the potential lessons on local climate action. It is rare to get the chance to spend so long soaking up a city and listening to the people who are trying to push for change within it. And certainly, in recent years, Barcelona has visibly and palpably changed. From a visit ten years ago, I [...]

Author: Thomas Haddock, NetZeroCities Head of Operations, Climate-KIC The bearings of our rear sprockets growl rhythmically as we ride across the Ligurian coast. The sunlight strikes the blue, azure ocean and reflects around us. We are riding on a new segregated cycling and walking path through the centre of the city of Imperia. We feel safe enough to freewheel, chat and take in our surroundings. Families are carelessly walking through the space and the chirps, barks and squeaks of children playing are clearly audible in this traffic free space. Enrique Peñalosa, the former Mayor of Bogotá, [...]

NetZeroCities was created to support over 100 European Mission Cities reach their goal of climate neutrality by 2030. But with many of those cities now implementing their ambitious plans, how can their experience be deployed to help the many cities that will follow their lead? Meline Gonzalez-Piloyan and Ida Jusic from Eurocities, one of NetZeroCities’ main partners, write here about an important shift in the trajectory of the EU Cities Mission. Connecting new cities more closely with the Mission Cities is crucial for fostering Europe-wide exchange on climate solutions. By building stronger links, cities can learn [...]

European cities share many challenges when it comes to meeting their climate goals – and through the EU Cities Mission, they are working together to solve them and learning from each other’s successes. Irene Vivas Lalinde, a city support officer from NetZeroCities’ partner Eurocities, writes here about how two in particular – Cologne and Soria – are replicating innovative models to speed up the transformation on energy use and efficiency.  Rapidly decarbonising the built environment in an equitable manner is a huge challenge for many European cities. This challenge includes implementation of the EU’s Energy Performance of [...]

Cities are often going faster and further on climate neutrality than national and EU actors – so how can they align effectively to maximise their impact and promote their interests as they implement their ambitious plans? Paula Serra Bachs, from NetZeroCities’ partner Eurocities, reports here on a critical conversation of key players from this summer’s EU Cities Mission conference in Valencia. The scale of the challenge can be hard to comprehend, but the numbers are stark: to eliminate net-greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, Mission Cities could need a combined 650 billion euros in investment. But these [...]

Are you a city expert or practitioner working in urban sustainability or a connected field? And are you seeking a space to learn, share, and collaborate on climate neutrality with an international group of peers? If the answer is yes, our new Community of Practice could be for you, so read our introduction from Helena Suarez Groen, from NetZeroCities’ partner LGI, and find out how you can join this exciting new group.  What is the NetZeroCities Community of Practice? Tackling climate challenges requires more than simply good intentions. It demands collaboration, innovation, and a continuous exchange [...]

Cities are confronting many challenges to reach their climate goals, but they also face being overwhelmed with possible solutions. NetZeroCities’ partners from the Tecnalia team, Carolina Garcia Madruga, Maider Arana, and Carolina Cantergiani, write here about an exciting online tool to help cities identify the best of those solutions and prioritise their decarbonisation activity. Navigating the Challenges of Climate Neutrality When creating a roadmap to climate neutrality, cities must not only have a clear picture of the obstacles they face but know which to prioritise and which solutions will be the most impactful to implement. [...]

Cities are at the forefront of delivering meaningful change when it comes to the climate and, through the EU Cities Mission, they are channelling their ambitions. But what useful comparisons can we make between them? And in what ways do they differ? To help highlight these key points, Francesco Palmia, Elma Meskovic, and Silvia Gugu from NetZeroCities’ partner ICLEI have conducted an analysis of the first ten cities to receive a Mission Label and are publishing factsheets to draw out these very lessons.  The Importance of Knowledge Sharing in Climate Action Given the challenges and uncertainties [...]

The Solution Bundles tool, developed by NetZeroCities consortium partners Rosalía Simón de Lama, Ana Belén Gómez, Andrea Gabaldón, and Carolina Pastor at CARTIF, aims to do just that through better visualisation of complex urban problems and packaged solutions. The tool is explained here further by Rosalía Simón de Lama and Ana Belén Gómez. Visualising Complex Urban Solutions How do cities visualise complex urban solutions? And, having done so, how do they incorporate them into their climate strategies? This is no easy task, but a valuable system is on the way for Mission Cities in the shape of [...]