Finalists for the prestigious 2025 European Green Capital (EGCA 2025) and 2025 European Green Leaf (EGLA 2025) have been announced, including ICLEI Members Graz (Austria) and Guimarães (Portugal)! Graz and Guimarães are finalists for the EGCA 2025, alongside the City of Vilnius (Latvia), while finalists for the EGLA 2025 include the cities of Treviso (Italy) and Viladecans (Spain).

The award is granted to European cities and towns committed to sustainability and finalists are chosen based on their work across several environmental indicators including air quality, water, biodiversity, green areas and sustainable land use, waste and circular economy, noise, climate change mitigation, and climate change adaptation. Following a presentation on their environmental, governance and communication strategies, the winners of these awards will be announced in the current European Green Capital Tallinn (Estonia) on 5 October 2023. 

As Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevičius, said, “With most Europeans living in urban areas, cities are essential to tackle the triple crisis of climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss. Today, we are celebrating these five exemplary European cities that have already decided to walk the talk. These cities are trailblazers showing how it is possible to be sustainable, offer a higher quality of life for citizens, while creating space for biodiversity and building resilience towards the effects of climate change.”

The winner of the Green Capital Award will receive €600,000 and Green Leaf winners will receive €200,000. The financial prize contributes to supporting the winning cities in implementing initiatives and measures to enhance their environmental performance and reach out to citizens, especially during their winning year. Winning cities will also benefit from increased international profile, networking and new alliances, a sense of local pride, and the opportunity to become a part of a network of previous finalists and winners.

To learn more about the European Green Capital and Green Leaf Awards, click here.