Author: Barbara Jarkiewicz In the midst of the turmoil caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, lies Rivne — a city with a bold vision for a sustainable future. Despite the shadow of war and the nation's ongoing struggle for stability, Rivne has taken a courageous step forward on the eve of the EU accession by committing to the EU Cities Mission’ and joining the Pilot Cities Programme run by NetZeroCities. These initiatives aim to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, an unprecedented initiative in Ukraine that reflects the city’s determination to take ambitious action on climate. [...]

Author: Alan MacKenzie “It's important to be humble and understand that there are always great challenges ahead of you”, Björn Hugosson, Stockholm’s chief climate officer, says. Since 1990, the city has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by two-thirds, alongside a growing population and economy. But even with more than 30 years of climate action behind them, the city is still being challenged – and challenging itself – to do better. Following the award of one of the first ten ‘Mission Labels’ from the EU, which recognises the strength of the city's plans to reach climate neutrality by the end of [...]

Author: Elisa Abrantes The Pilot Cities programme is set to scale up with a second cohort of 26 European cities. This brings the total number of participating municipalities to 79, all of which are working to develop innovative solutions for rapid decarbonisation. The third and final call to join the PCP is now open and will soon increase this number even further. The goal of generating groundbreaking solutions is matched by a robust focus on learning within the Pilot Cities Programme. Particular emphasis is placed on collective learning entailing the pooling of diverse perspectives to create shared understandings. This collaborative [...]

Author: Elisa Abrantes Over 50 European cities are just short of a quarter of the way through their two-year Pilot City Programme experience, and more EU Mission Cities recently applied to be part of the second cohort, to accelerate their efforts to achieve climate neutrality. Cities that are part of the programme receive an EU grant and support from the NetZeroCities platform over a two-year period to test innovative pathways to climate neutrality, aimed at overcoming entrenched and systemic barriers to change in their context. The Pilot Cities Programme is the main way in which [...]