The European Mission on 100 Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities by 2030 - progress, lessons learned and international outreach

To support cities as climate action frontrunners, the EU has launched a Mission on Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities with a double objective: (1) deliver 100 climate-neutral and smart cities by 2030 and (2) ensure that these cities act as experimentation and innovation hubs to enable all European cities to become climate-neutral by 2050.

Since April 2022 the EU Cities Mission is also an EU voluntary commitment to the UN New Urban Agenda. As such, it has added an international outreach dimension by linking to the activities of the global Urban Transitions Mission, a joint initiative of the European Commission and the Global Covenant of Mayors.

When presented at WUF11 in Katowice, the EU Cities Mission had just selected its cohort of 112 cities: 100 EU cities from all member states and covering 12% of EU population, joined by 12 cities from associated countries. Two years on, join representatives of the European Commission, cities and the national level, and international partners for a discussion on how mission-based approaches - in Europe and at global scale - are accelerating the transition to climate-neutral, sustainable and inclusive cities.