Valladolid brings together on the 17th and 18th of April representatives of the Cencyl Green Cities Network and the Mission Cities that face the challenge of achieving climate neutrality in at least 100 European cities by 2030.

The ‘Spain-Portugal Mission: Towards Climate Neutrality in 2030’ meeting was held at the Patio Herreriano Museum of Contemporary Art in Valladolid. It was hosted by the City Council of Valladolid, through the Department of Innovation, Economic Development, Employment and Trade, together with the Cencyl Green Cities Network and in collaboration with the national and European platforms that support and assist Mission cities. CitiES2030 and NetZeroCities provide technical and legal assistance and open access to funding opportunities to the cities participating in the Mission.

A common path

This is the first time that, united by the objective of achieving climate neutrality, cities from two-member countries of Mission Cities have met, providing an opportunity to initiate avenues of collaboration, share experiences, projects and, in short, give continuity to the firm commitment of all the attending entities to work in close collaboration on city decarbonisation.

In fact, one of the objectives of this meeting was to launch a work proposal and common approach between Spain and Portugal to accelerate the climate and energy transition, leaving no one behind, in the development of action plans towards this ambition of making Europe the first carbon neutral continent by 2050.

This collaboration, not only between cities in the same country but also between neighbouring countries, is highly valued by the European Union, which supports it through its NetZeroCities platform.
 

Border challenges

There could be no better facilitating framework for this meeting than the Cencyl Cities Network, which was born in 2013. It is comprised of Salamanca, Valladolid, Ciudad Rodrigo, Aveiro, Coimbra, Figueira da Foz, Guarda, Viseu and the ports of Oporto and Leixoes, as well as Cylog. A network that has been consolidated, thanks to its commitment and work, as a model of cross-border cooperation in the urban field to address the main challenges and opportunities of sustainable development and climate change. It plays an important role in attracting European funds for the financing of collaborative projects and initiatives aimed at sustainable urban development.

It is worth highlighting the generous contribution of all its partners in the exchange of experiences in the urban axis of the Atlantic Corridor in several areas: public space, logistics and urban mobility, tourist and cultural heritage, as well as the development of green infrastructure, the renaturalisation of cities and the development of municipal strategies to combat climate change. This is the case of the Climate Strategy that Valladolid has defined with common criteria with these municipalities in the framework of the Cencyl Verde project, financed with European funds from the Interreg-Poptec cross-border cooperation programme.

This meeting falls within the framework of the development of climate actions of the Cencyl Network and brings together Spanish and Portuguese cities and cross-border cooperation structures to share and discuss experiences on climate adaptation and urban resilience.
It is an excellent moment to start developing innovative and digital solutions in climate action and in the different key sectors, such as energy, building, waste management and transport, together with the corresponding investment plans.

In fact, Valladolid, together with the Spanish Mission Cities, has already approved the Climate Agreement last March, the first step to achieve the ‘’Mission City‘’ label that will give Valladolid preferential access to funding for the necessary investments.

The meeting also constitutes a clear political commitment, not only before the European Commission and national, regional and local authorities, but also before the citizens, the axis around which all decisions in the field of adaptation to climate change and improvement of the quality of life of citizens revolve.