During a dedicated session at the EU Research & Innovation Days, 23 new cities part of the EU Mission on 100 climate-neutral and smart cities were awarded the Mission Label for their plans to achieve climate neutrality by 2030. The Mission Label was awarded by Iliana Ivanova, Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth.

The Mission Label recognises a city’s work in successfully developing its Climate City Contract, consisting of the city’s vision for and commitment to climate neutrality, an action plan, and an investment plan. Further, it serves as a catalyst for facilitating access to both public and private funding to support the city's ambitious goals. The first ten cities received their Mission Label in October 2023.

ERRIN is pleased to see that 15 cities are located in ERRIN member regions:

• Barcelona (ES)
• Espoo (FI)
• Florence (IT)
• Guimarães (PT)
• Heidelberg (DE)
• Lahti (FI)
• Leuven (BE)
• Limassol (CY)
• Lyon (FR)
• Malmö (SE)
• Marseille (FR)
• Parma (IT)
• Seville (ES)
• Tampere (FI)
• Turku (FI)

The other cities that were awarded the Mission Label are: Ioannina (GR), Izmir (TR), Kalamata (GR), Kozani (GR), Lappeenranta (FI), Lisbon (PT), Pécs (HU), and Thessaloniki (GR).

The NetZeroCities project, in which ERRIN is a partner, is currently reviewing a new batch of Climate City Contracts that were submitted by cities in March 2024.

The ERRIN Smart Cities Working Group is organising a meeting on 25 April where the cities of Vitoria-Gasteiz and Turku will present their Climate City Contract processes and plans for the Mission Label. The European Commission will also give an update on the Mission Label. ERRIN members can register to the meeting here.