NetZeroCities — Helping European cities reach net zero by 2030

Demos Helsinki is working as part of a consortium of leading European organisations to support cities in collectively finding new ways to drastically cut their emissions by 2030 through the NetZeroCities project.

NetZeroCities is a Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme which supports the EU Mission for “100 Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities by 2030” and supports the EU’s Green Deal. The project started in October 2021 and is currently continuing until 2026. The consortium consists of 33 partners from 13 countries with EIT Climate-KIC as the coordinator.

Cities account for over 70% of global CO2 emissions and are home to 75% of EU citizens. They have a profound impact and role in the lives and wellbeing of people, and are also centres of economic activity, knowledge generation, innovation and new technologies which are key infrastructures for the private sector and civil society.

Within the NetZeroCities project and consortium, Demos Helsinki is focusing on bringing our expertise on the role of governance when driving societal transformation. This involves providing hands-on support to cities on topics including citizen and stakeholder engagement, social innovation, experimentation, multi-level governance and dialogue, and policy innovation.

This involves supporting cities in various ways including in agile city support groups that provide specialist support and capacity building; the pilot city programme where cities experiment with specific solutions; and the Climate City Contracts, a documentation where cities form ambitious commitments and detail coherent action and investment plans.

Furthermore, we are bringing our expertise in mission-oriented governance to develop understanding of what governing and operationalising missions looks like in reality. This relates to cities themselves but also to the mission platform and the form it takes to best support cities in their climate transition both today and in the long-term.

Overall, this project is a key site of our work on the topic of climate governance and helping governments to drive forward the needed changes in our society. This project demonstrates strong commitment from the European Commission and cities, including a high ambition level with many cities setting their targets sooner than the national level. NetZeroCities provides the coordination mechanism to best support cities in this journey including helping them learn from each other.

“Cities are facing mounting expectations to lead climate action globally. This can happen not only by reducing their emissions but also through experimenting with innovative solutions, sharing knowledge, mutual learning and fostering collaboration with different levels of government to overcome barriers on their common path towards climate neutrality. The Cities Mission and the NetZeroCities consortium are there to provide support to European cities in their pursuit to tackle the climate crisis together”, says Program Lead Erkki Perälä.

For more information, please contact:
Yu-Yi Huynh
yu-yi.huynh@demoshelsinki.fi 

Feature Image: Google DeepMind / Pexels