Reykjavík City participates in a European collaboration for 100 carbon-neutral and smart cities. A total of 377 cities applied to join the mission, and a team of experts has now selected Reykjavík to participate.
Cities to develop climate contracts
Cities in the mission will focus on projects that support carbon neutrality in energy, transportation, buildings, industry and even food production. Climate City Contracts will be created and customized for each city and its partners across all sectors of society. This is a long-term project. In the coming weeks, participating cities will begin working intensively to prepare the contracts in partnership.
Mayor Dagur B. Eggertsson says this is wonderful news and international recognition of Reykjavík City's Climate Policy and the City's climate-related projects. "Nearly 400 cities competed to participate in this project, but only 100 were chosen. Reykjavík has demonstrated in recent years through numerous projects — from bike path construction and micro-mobility solutions to urban densification, waste management and carbon capture projects like CarbFix — that we're not only committed to participating in climate solutions, but we intend to lead the way. This designation confirms that commitment, and we are incredibly proud of this achievement."
Strong emphasis on democratic consultation and new methods
The mission is based on the European Green Deal, which aims to achieve carbon neutrality in Europe by 2050. The mission framework, "Horizon Europe Mission, Climate Neutral and Smart Cities 2030 – by and for the Citizens," strongly emphasizes democratic consultation and new methods for managing projects within cities to speed up progress toward carbon neutrality.
The main obstacle to the changes needed to address the climate crisis is not a lack of technical solutions, but the ability to implement them. Cities are encouraged to break away from vertical planning structures, as Reykjavík City did when developing the Green Deal.
Horizon Europe aims to create systematic change for investing in climate action based on three main principles:
- A comprehensive approach to encourage innovation and implementation.
- Extensive, active consultation integrated into planning.
- Close collaboration between different stakeholders.
This requires innovation in administration and even stronger collaboration between the city and the private sector, academic community and non-governmental organizations.
Reykjavík City expressed interest in participating in January 2022. A comprehensive application was prepared with support from staff throughout Reykjavík City operations. Policies and initiatives from recent years formed the foundation of the application, including the Municipal Plan, Climate Policy, Green Deal, Transportation Charter and Biodiversity policy. Recent proposals on circular economy and energy transition were also included.