Cascais has just been recognized at COP 27, the UN conference on climate change, as one of the 50 most innovative cities in the world for its energy transition and climate action policies and for its contribution to the science of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
On November 14, 2022, at COP27, held in the Egyptian city of Sharm-El Sheikh, Cascais was presented as one of the 50 cities selected by the "Urban Transition Acceleration Mission" program, run by a consortium of 23 national governments and the European Union. This consortium is also joined by partners such as the World Bank Group and the World Economic Forum.
This "Global Mission" for cities aims to strengthen the adoption of new energy technologies and low-carbon solutions to pursue policies focused on decarbonization on several fronts (energy, mobility, waste and water resources). A significant contribution to the implementation of the Paris Agreement.
This select group of Cities will work in partnership to find the best "zero carbon" solutions based on technological innovation, governance models to foster the renewable energy market, the rational use of water, and mobility solutions.
This joint action also foresees the strong involvement of the respective national governments and, in the case of Cascais, the European Union itself, to accelerate the adoption of transformative actions and access to exclusive funding programs.
Simplifying for Action
Cascais has also made an important contribution to the science of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) through a relevant contribution to the drafting of the first "Summary for Urban Decision Makers" integrated in the IPCC's Sixth Climate Change Report. In this four-volume document, global leaders in climate science and consultants to 50 cities from all regions of the world presented a concluding summary with guidelines for planning cities under regional climate change scenarios.
This contribution thus "distills" the dense and sometimes imperceptible scientific language into concepts and methods to help cities (technicians, decision makers, social partners and even households) adopt climate change adaptation and mitigation solutions that contribute faster to resilience and energy transition while simultaneously reducing the risks of inaction.
Local climate change strategy started in 2010
Since 2010, with the presentation of the first local strategy for climate change, Cascais has been involved in international partnerships to learn about best practices and attract international investment. Now, with the IPCC's own recognition, we will take a new step towards resilience and carbon neutrality within the challenges presented at the Paris COP.