What this journey is about
Climate change affects us all and change is inevitable. Cities are leaders in the transformation of the way we work and live. By joining the European Climate Neutral and Smart Cities Mission, you are embarking on an ambitious journey to become the first 100 cities to reach climate-neutrality by 2030. Only a new type of collective effort will be up to the task: a transformative approach accelerating decarbonisation. This transformative approach, which NetZeroCities champions, is embodied and described by the Climate Transition Map. It is meant as...
A systemic approach to accelerating decarbonisation
A real challenge, reaching climate neutrality asks all of us to act collaboratively, understanding interdependencies between us as actors and our actions to uncover the barriers blocking change. In a systemic approach, this journey toward net zero is centred around the creation of a portfolio of actions that addresses these barriers to change. In this journey, the Climate City Contract is the key instrument for Mission Cities to launch and accelerate this approach. The Pilot Cities Programme is a tool to explore particular innovation needs and opportunities on this journey.
Across this journey, key themes recur. They are the demonstration that technical solutions alone are not enough to an approach achieving this transition. We need to improve and renew governance structures, democratic participation, finance, learning capabilities and our use of social innovation. Together, these enable a so-called systemic transformation - transformation across domains and sectors with sufficient coherence and impact to shift society toward climate neutrality.
An iterative process
The way to climate neutrality has not yet been paved and cities engaged in the Mission for 100 climate neutral and smart cities by 2030 are pioneers. In this context, learning is crucial to accelerate progress towards the climate neutrality by 2030 goal in each city. Co-creation and testing, to refine strategies and plans progressively, is the only way to discover the way forward when it is not clear. Getting to climate-neutrality will require both quick wins (readily available technologies) and experimentation (in new domains) to refine and evolve strategies towards the necessary full decarbonisation.
Your journey:
Climate change affects us all and change is inevitable. Cities are leaders in the transformation of the way we work and live. By joining the European Climate Neutral and Smart Cities Mission, you are embarking on an ambitious journey to become the first 100 cities to reach climate-neutrality by 2030. Only a new type of collective effort will be up to the task: a transformative approach accelerating decarbonisation. This transformative approach, which NetZeroCities champions, is embodied and described by the Climate Transition Map. It is meant as...
A systemic approach to accelerating decarbonisation
A real challenge, reaching climate neutrality asks all of us to act collaboratively, understanding interdependencies between us as actors and our actions to uncover the barriers blocking change. In a systemic approach, this journey toward net zero is centred around the creation of a portfolio of actions that addresses these barriers to change. In this journey, the Climate City Contract is the key instrument for Mission Cities to launch and accelerate this approach. The Pilot Cities Programme is a tool to explore particular innovation needs and opportunities on this journey.
Across this journey, key themes recur. They are the demonstration that technical solutions alone are not enough to an approach achieving this transition. We need to improve and renew governance structures, democratic participation, finance, learning capabilities and our use of social innovation. Together, these enable a so-called systemic transformation - transformation across domains and sectors with sufficient coherence and impact to shift society toward climate neutrality.
An iterative process
The way to climate neutrality has not yet been paved and cities engaged in the Mission for 100 climate neutral and smart cities by 2030 are pioneers. In this context, learning is crucial to accelerate progress towards the climate neutrality by 2030 goal in each city. Co-creation and testing, to refine strategies and plans progressively, is the only way to discover the way forward when it is not clear. Getting to climate-neutrality will require both quick wins (readily available technologies) and experimentation (in new domains) to refine and evolve strategies towards the necessary full decarbonisation.
Your journey:
- The timeline and starting point of this journey depend on each city's constraints and goals, past efforts and local dynamics (elections, budget and planning cycles...). City Advisors will work with cities to explore these questions in an individual and adaptable process to kickstart their own journey.
- Cities are in the driving seat. The Climate Transition Map is there to support them in undertaking this journey, adapted to their situation as needed. It illustrates a highly context-dependent process, where we are all learning together to discover and pave the way forward. NetZeroCities and the City Advisors will accompany cities to understand where you may be in your journey – in the map – and where you may need to go next. But ultimately, each city’s team is the lead explorer on this journey.