
The 100 Climate Neutral and Smart Cities Mission: National support structures
The Hague, 8 December 2022
Organised with the Dutch Ministry for the Interior and Kingdom Relations
In response to the severe impacts of climate change, the European Union set becoming the first climate neutral continent as its high-priority goal. To accelerate this transition, the 100 Climate Neutral and Smart Cities by 2030 Mission was developed to deliver 100 climate neutral and smart cities by 2030, and to ensure these cities will enable others to follow by acting as innovation and experimentation hubs. Seven Dutch cities were selected to join.
To achieve the objectives set by the Mission, cities will need support in terms of funding, knowledge exchange, and adapted regulations. The European Commission recognised these needs by investing in supporting infrastructures such as NetZeroCities, a knowledge platform to facilitate exchange between Mission cities, and CapaCITIES, a recently launched project to facilitate national support to the Mission. The Commission also highlighted the need for national governments to support the cities.
The Policy Lab responded to these developments by facilitating an informal exchange between the Netherlands, Germany, and France on ways for national governments to support their Mission cities (selected and not selected). Through the discussion of key dilemmas faced by national governments, experiences with setting up and facilitating governmental support structures for the Mission were shared. These dilemmas pertained to elements such as national commitment, legislative room to experiment, and coordination with the ecosystem.