The Smart City Expo World Congress hosted an impactful session on Driving Urban Sustainability: Achieving Net-Zero the Just Way, organised by a range of EU-supported initiatives. This session brought together policymakers and experts to discuss the critical role of cities in advancing climate action, energy resilience, and equitable transitions to a net-zero economy.
Held on Tuesday, 05 November 2024, the session opened with a keynote by Tadhg O'Briain from the European Commission’s Directorate General for Energy. He emphasised the European Green Deal as a foundational policy, highlighting the importance of innovative energy governance and social inclusion to achieve Europe’s ambitious climate targets. O'Brien remarked, “The European Green Deal continues to be at the centre of the objectives for the European Union... in terms of delivery, of the transition of our economy, and the change in how we consume energy and how we use it.”
Panellists shared insights from their respective programs, including NetZeroCities, Driving Urban Transitions (DUT) Partnership, Intelligent Cities Challenge (ICC), and the European Urban Initiative (EUI), illustrating the varied strategies and partnerships driving urban transitions. Orsolya Küttel from DUT described how they mobilise diverse European stakeholders, noting, "The core of our activities is that we are financing research and innovation projects addressing urban challenges to help cities in their transition towards sustainability, climate-neutrality and improved functionality. We invite a diverse range of urban stakeholders - including urban authorities, but also research institutions, universities, civil society members, and businesses to apply in transnational consortia."
Community engagement was central to the experience shared by Marc Serra Solé, member of the Barcelona City Council, President of the Climate Action and Energy Transition Area at the Provincial Council of Barcelona and part of the @eumayors board. Putting side-by-side images of windmills of Don Quixote and wind turbines stressed the need to provide timely, clear and accessible information to citizens to avoid opposition and enhance social acceptance “We should not let citizens see enemies where there are none, they need to be fully part of the transition. Communication and multilevel governance is a key enabling factor: the national and the regional level should speak to the local level and citizens, set up open dialogues.”
Filipe Araújo, Vice-Mayor of Porto, a city known as a climate pioneer in recent years, shared Porto’s approach, highlighting the power of collaboration and the importance of local innovation. He described how "There are a lot of projects that we have accomplished in Porto that really copied from other cities. And the thing is that we don't have to invent the wheel every time that we need something. So the networks are very important."
The session concluded with reflections from the participants on the importance of a Just Transition that addresses energy poverty and ensures social inclusion. Donal O’Herlihy from the EUI underscored the benefits of EU support in enabling cities to take risks in innovative urban development, stating, "EUI support enables cities to do things that they wouldn't otherwise be able to do. The Innovative Actions programme pioneers solutions for cities’ more challenging problems. These projects may not turn out as planned, but they always produce something very valuable for cities. EUI also supports City to City learning visits and other capacity building too."
Carine Valette, Head of Communications for NetZeroCities also stressed the importance of this continued work and said “It's a journey, and it's about challenges. It's about opportunities, and it's about people. It's about overcoming several challenges that are on the way to net zero and to transitioning not only to net zero, but doing it in a fair and a just way.”
Overall, the session underscored the value of climate action through multi-level governance supported by these EU initiatives, citizen engagement, and how targeted EU policies that support the unique needs of European urban communities are a must.