Padua

Italy

Mission city Pilot city
National Mission Ecosystem Italy
Padua Mission City Label
Population 210k
City Area 92 km²
City active since June 2022

Following its selection as one of the Net Zero Cities Mission's 100 cities, the Municipality of Padova has embarked on a journey to revise its own decarbonization plan, the SECAP, with the goal of switching from its 2030 target of halving greenhouse gas emissions to climate neutrality.

 

This new goal is a real step change, allowing the local authority to draw up a new vision for the city with an increasing focus on environmental and social sustainability. Although Padova started on its path to reducing the city's carbon footprint a long time ago (the first plan dates back to the late '90s), reaching climate neutrality entails a profound change, in terms of both new projects and synergies between various local stakeholders, and in letting go of entrenched habits and behaviours that, while firmly rooted in our everyday lives, are now clearly incompatible with a climate-neutral city.

Key Learnings

Let'sGOv GOverning the Transition through Pilot Actions in Italian cities

Nine Italian cities united to tackle what they identified as the central bottleneck in urban decarbonisation: fragmented governance. Rather than running nine separate pilots, Let'sGOv created a shared framework for testing new collaboration models, stakeholder engagement approaches, and financial innovations across the 9 Italian Mission cities, supported by three scientific partners. The results included a toolkit of tested solutions to overcome local barriers and an improved capacity to engage as a network of cities in multilevel dialogue with national stakeholders.   Featured cities: Bergamo, Bologna, Rome, Turin, Florence, Milan, Padua,

District Heating Pathways for a Climate-Neutral Padova

Heating and cooling account for a significant share of urban emissions, yet they also offer one of the clearest opportunities for system-wide decarbonisation. In Padova, buildings and industry are central to the city’s climate challenge, and district heating has been identified as a strategic solution within the Climate City Contract. The city aims to connect around 12.5% of residential buildings, 15% of tertiary buildings and 20% of industrial buildings to new low-carbon heat networks by 2030, helping to reduce emissions by more than 58,000 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent annually. This project was supported by funding from the EU Cities Mission, provided through the City Expert Support Facility (CESF) of NetZeroCities.

Multi-city One-Stop-Shop for energy renovation in Italian Mission Cities

The Italian Mission Cities – Padova, Bologna, Bergamo, Florence, Milan, Parma, Prato, Rome, and Turin – face a shared challenge: accelerating building energy renovation while engaging citizens and stakeholders in the transition to climate neutrality by 2030. To address this, RENAEL and four local energy agencies conducted a feasibility study for a Multi-City One-Stop-Shop (OSS) that would support cities in delivering integrated services for energy renovation. This project was supported by funding from the EU Cities Mission, provided through the City Expert Support Facility (CESF) of NetZeroCities.

Padua’s Food System Transformation

As part of its pathway to climate neutrality, the city of Padua has begun addressing the urban food system as a key but complex driver of emissions. The food system spans production, processing, distribution, consumption, and waste, involving a wide range of actors who often operate without coordination. Its boundaries are difficult to define, and its impacts are not always fully visible within existing climate frameworks. This project was supported by funding from the EU Cities Mission, provided through the City Expert Support Facility (CESF) of NetZeroCities.

Governance Model for Renewable Energy Communities

The City of Padua, in collaboration with the Province of Padua, the University of Padua, the Chamber of Commerce, and Padova Hall S.p.A developed an innovative public governance model for a Multicabina Renewable and Solidarity Energy Community (RSECs). These entities signed a co-design agreement, committing to share data, provide technical and scientific support, identify funding sources, and allocate suitable surfaces for energy installations. The Multicabina partnership structure ensures distributed roles among various public actors while maintaining full public control. It has fostered a data-driven planning in line with specific micro-territorial needs while ensuring citizen protection and the preservation of the social goals of the energy community.

Il Piano per la neutralità climatica del Comune di Padova (Evento NZC-ANCI 25-02-2026 Roma) 

Contributo del Comune di Padova all'evento "Città e Comuni per la Transizione Energetica e Climatica", organizzato nell'ambito di NetZeroCities presso la sede di ANCI a Roma il 25 febbraio 2026. L'evento ha riunito le 9 città italiane della Missione UE "100 città intelligenti e a impatto climatico zero entro il 2030" e un più ampio numero di comuni italiani impegnati nella transizione energetica e climatica.
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Latest updates from the city

Pilot project spotlight

In Italy and in some of the European Countries, the co-production of energy systems is slowed down by several barriers (constraints of the regulatory framework, lack of data and agile financial resources to support decision-making and detailed monitoring, lack of skills in the public and private sectors, absence of ad hoc protocols, agreements or standardised procedures).  

 

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Read more
Read Padua Climate City Contract Genova City Profile (Twin City) Issy-les-Moulineaux City Profile (Twin City)

External projects

City involvement in related European initiatives