Brussels (Brussels Morning) â The EU Commission launches the Climate City Capital Hub to support EU Cities Mission Label cities with financial and advisory services for climate-neutral and smart city projects.
The EU Commission is setting up the latest Climate City Capital Hub, an international finance resource to sustain cities participating in the EU Mission on Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities.
How Can Cities Access EU Climate Funding?
The cities that have already obtained the EU Cities Mission Label will be able to access financial advice in collaboration with advisory services of the European Investment Bank (EIB) and structure their financial demands so they understand various forms of funding projects, including pooling of projects; and Introduce schemes to a range of capital providers, including lenders and investors from the public and private sectors (such as philanthropic and corporate capital, as well as innovative financing like crowdfunding and sustainability-linked bonds), and sustain the process to deal closure.
What Financial Services Are Offered by the EIB?
Completing EIB services, the Climate City Capital Hub will be developed with the support of both the EU Mission on Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities Mission and the EU Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change. Its particular emphasis will be on engagement with private capital. For cities that signed both the Charter of the Mission on Climate Adaptation and have obtained the EU Cities Mission Label, the services will cover both mitigation and transformation projects, taking a holistic strategy to tackle climate change.
The hub will be conducted by the EU Commissionâs Cities Mission implementation platform, which is currently operated by the project NetZeroCities. The Commission declared its creation at the 2024 Cities Mission conference held in Valencia on 25 and 26 June.
In addition, the EIB has committed a lending envelope of âŹ2 billion devoted to cities with the Cities Mission Label to keep their plans to invest in energy, efficient buildings, district heating schemes, renewable energy, tolerable mobility, urban renewal and regeneration, water and social infrastructure. It supports the EIB support to labelled cities and counts a dedicated finance facility for advisory services.
How Many Cities Have Earned the EU Mission Label?
So far, 33 cities have been granted the Label of the EU Mission for Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities: 10 in October 2023 and 23 in March 2024. The label is an essential milestone in the citiesâ work. It acknowledges the flourishing development of Climate City Contracts, which outline the citiesâ overall concept for climate neutrality and incorporate an action plan as well as an investment plan.Â
Cities co-create their Climate City deals with local stakeholders including the private sector and citizens. From the 33 Investment strategies that have been submitted so far, about âŹ114.1 billion have been budgeted for climate effortsâ on average âŹ3.6 billion per city. Currently, the Commission is examining another 23 Climate City agreements.
In parallel, the EU Mission for Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities has also accumulated more than 200 solutions that will assist cities on their way to climate neutrality. The solutions shield from A â âAdvanced Renovation Supportâ to Z â âZero Emission Busesâ and can be seen in the Knowledge Repository.
Cities account for more than 70% of global COâ emissions and swallow over 65% of the worldâs energy. Urban action is required for climate mitigation and can contribute greatly to accelerating the efforts to perform the legally binding commitment to reach climate neutrality in the EU as a whole by 2050, as well as to the EUâs target of lowering greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030 and more generally producing the European Green Deal. The EU Cities Mission strives to help European cities become climate-neutral, delivering cleaner air, safer transport and less congestion and noise to their citizens.
