Mayors and political representatives from across Europe met on 3 March 2023 in Freiburg (Germany) to discuss their shared ambition to achieve climate neutrality and advance the implementation of the European Green Deal at local level together with ICLEI. 

As part of ICLEI’s European Regional Executive Committee (REXCom) Mayors and political representatives from Freiburg (Germany), Antwerp (Belgium), Katowice (Poland), Turku (Finland), Vitoria-Gasteiz (Spain), Wrocław (Poland), Aalborg (Denmark), the Green Metropolitan Region of Arnhem-Nijmegen (The Netherlands), Tampere (Finland) and Växjö (Sweden) are calling for deeper exchange between local governments and upper levels of government to drive sustainability initiatives such as the Local Green Deal and realise the ambition of securing net-zero emissions Europe-wide.

“The launch of the European Green Deal is a game changer for climate neutrality. It aims to position the EU as the world’s leading region on sustainable development, innovation, economic development and inclusion. However, its success relies heavily on rolling this out using a multi-level governance approach. By advocating for multi-level governance through processes like the Urban7 (U7) - cities’ response to the G7 - ICLEI Europe seeks to demonstrate the power of local leadership in building a sustainable and climate-neutral world.”  says Wolfgang Teubner, Regional Director for ICLEI Europe.

The role of cities in driving forward this agenda for change to make our communities and environment more resilient, is a responsibility recognised and shared by ICLEI’s mayors. The recent U7 summit in Tokyo on 2 March only helped to forward this goal while promoting cities’ role in delivering peace, democracy, disaster relief and sustainable development through the 2023 U7 Mayors Declaration.

“This year’s Declaration of Mayors reflects the main challenges we face in different parts of the world. More importantly, it demonstrates that it is local governments that deal directly with their consequences and are at the forefront of delivering solutions. This is why a strong role of local leaders in the G7 process is of paramount importance. The U7 has made significant progress along this path, and we look forward to continuing this work with a longer term perspective.” said Minna Arve, Mayor, City of Turku, Finland, Vice President, ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability.

The strategic approach to realise the changes needed in the governance and finance architecture to enable cities to build a more resilient and sustainable Europe, are set out in the Strategic Work Plan 2023 - 2024 and formed the basis for the REXCom meeting, and the pathway for ICLEI Europe’s work over the next two years.

On the Strategic Work Plan and role that ICLEI plays in acheiving European-wide sustainability initiatives, Mayor of Freiburg (Germany) Martin W.W. Horn adds, "ICLEI is a strong partner of all European municipalities committed to sustainable development and the implementation of the EU Green Deal. I am pleased with the adoption of ICLEI's strategic work plan for the next two years at today's REXCom meeting. The plan lays an important foundation for supporting cities in tackling the climate and energy crisis not only at local, but also at European level."