Towards a European Green Deal with Cities. The urban dimension of the EU’s sustainable growth strategy

Monografia CIDOB nº 80

The European Union is widely considered a global leader in climate action. Yet, until the launch of the European Green Deal (EGD) in December 2019, it had no comprehensive policy framework to tackle climate change and the transition towards more sustainable development. Promoted as the EU’s post-2020 growth strategy, the EGD is often reduced to an economic policy. But its ambitions for systemic change, the climate risks at stake and the challenges of the COVID-19 crisis make it more than that. The health emergency has highlighted our vulnerability to multiplying crises that are increasingly unpredictable, as well as the need to build more sustainable and resilient societies and economies. If the European Commission delivers on its promise of channelling the COVID-19 recovery package and the 2021–2027 Multiannual Financial Framework towards the EGD goals of a green and socially just transition, it would constitute a unique opportunity for an economic and social reset that will better prepare Europe for managing and adapting to future crises – climate and beyond.

Closer cooperation between EU institutions and cities will be key to making the proposed reset a reality. Not only because cities are home to around 75% of the EU’s population and responsible for a large part of its energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, but also because they are leaders in climate innovation and the places where citizens engage in climate action. This volume explores how the EU is stepping up urban governance programmes and cooperation with cities to make the most of its Green Deal and the window of opportunity for systemic change. By unpacking the core premises of the EGD and the most relevant goals for cities, the volume examines how the EGD will support the climate and energy transition already underway in urban areas; and, in turn, how local climate action can contribute to and accelerate Europe’s path towards carbon-neutrality by 2050.

ISBN: 978-84-92511-88-4 / D.L.: B 2246-2021

Key Words: European Green Deal, cities, climate change, energy transition, mobility transition, climate justice