This quick-read gives an overview of the role of National Platforms in helping achieve the Cities Mission.
Key concepts / Principles
A National Platform is a multi-level, multi-stakeholder space for collaboration and innovation, established across EU Member States and Associated Countries. Its goal is to support and accelerate the transition of cities in the country towards climate neutrality. The key stakeholders involved in building a National Platform include local governments, national and regional authorities, the private sector, the civic sector, and universities and research institutions.
National Platforms are designed to create the conditions necessary to accelerate cities' transition to climate-neutrality. Their core objectives include:
- Political and Policy Support: Secure political backing for urban climate action by engaging high-level politicians, aligning with broader priorities like economic development and energy security, and ensuring coherence between national policies and city-level climate goals.
- Collaborative and Breakthrough Interventions: Facilitate multi-city collaborations and stakeholder engagement across sectors like finance, industry, and academia to address critical barriers such as electrification and mobility, while fostering innovation.
- Financial and Capacity Building Support: Secure additional funding for cities, enhance their capacity to implement climate actions, and coordinate investments at both national and international levels.
- Knowledge Sharing and Tools: Promote knowledge exchange and provide shared tools for policy modelling, data governance, and evaluation to help cities streamline their efforts and adopt solutions faster.
- EU Liaison and Advocacy: Facilitate effective communication between cities, national governments, and the EU to ensure climate needs are addressed and new EU initiatives align with urban goals.
Inspiration
Among multiple national support structures, three platforms have been actively working prior to the launch of the EU Cities Mission and have a history of collaboration: Viable Cities in Sweden, CitiES2030 in Spain, and the National Mission for Climate-Neutral Cities in Austria. These platforms contribute valuable experience and insights to the broader collective effort toward achieving climate neutrality. Additionally, newer initiatives such as the recently established M100 platform in Romania are also making important contributions to the shared mission, further strenghtening the network of National Platforms.
Best practices
National Platforms play an important role by actively supporting cities in three key areas:
- Networking: National Platforms create inclusive spaces for stakeholders at all levels to collaborate, exchange knowledge, build trust, and align on climate-neutrality goals. They connect cities with national ministries, EU initiatives, and key actors, organizing events to drive progress and address challenges.
- Implementation: National Platforms help cities achieve climate-neutrality by 2030 by identifying challenges, advocating for necessary policy changes, and providing technical, financial, and organizational support. They assist in developing Climate City Contracts, securing resources, and navigating regulatory hurdles.
- Collaboration: National Platforms promote real collaboration between cities, fostering joint projects like multi-city pilots to accelerate climate action. They advocate for multi-city initiatives, secure resources, and establish frameworks to monitor progress and share lessons learnt, ensuring all cities benefit from collective efforts.
Tools and support
Two projects, CapaCITIES and NetZeroCities, provide support for National Platforms under the EU Cities Mission. CapaCITIES focuses on national-level support, while NetZeroCities primarily supports cities.
Support provided to National Platfoms from CapaCITIES include networking and knowledge exchange, capacity building and seed funding.
NetZeroCities support National Platforms through access to Climate City Contracts guidelines and templates, capacity building for National Platform facilitators, policy innovation support, and access to NetZeroCities finance experts and methodologies.