Welcome to the Smart Cities Marketplace newsletter! The Smart Cities Marketplace aims to give many climate-neutral and smart city initiatives a voice and a platform. In that spirit, we have agreed to offer like-minded EC initiatives the opportunity to contribute directly to our newsletter by drafting a guest editorial. This contribution is from the Covenant of Mayors.
“We don’t need more discussion about new goals – we need to talk about speeding up the transition”, said Martin Horn, Mayor of Freiburg, at the Covenant of Mayors Conference. Among other mayors, he regards the current energy crisis as an opportunity to accelerate the path to climate neutrality.
Cities have seized this opportunity by implementing essential measures for the transition in response to the crisis, e.g., energy savings in municipal buildings, supporting building renovations, accelerating the deployment of renewables, raising awareness through campaigns, and protecting vulnerable citizens. These local actions are critical not only for Europe's REPowerEU Plan; but also for achieving the EU's ambitious climate neutrality target by 2050 and ensuring a just transition for all.
The Covenant of Mayors unites over 11,000 European cities and towns, pledging their commitment to the EU's climate and energy goals. Through the initiative, they develop Sustainable Energy and Climate Actions Plans to detail how they will reach their targets, focusing on mitigation, adaptation, and energy poverty. While these plans pave the way, further steps are necessary to meet EU targets.
The Smart Cities Marketplace serves as an essential complement to the Covenant of Mayors. It provides operational support to bring these commitments to life, addressing challenges such as lack of capacity and skills at the local level and limited access to funding, preventing local governments from implementing their plans. Through its services, from matchmaking and one-on-one consultations to capacity building and technical assistance, the Smart Cities Marketplace helps cities transform their plans into actionable projects that can secure funding or training opportunities. Our partnership is based on the belief that working together is the only way to accelerate the transition.
Allison Le Corre, Covenant of Mayors
