TIPS4PED Lighthouse City, Turin receives the EU ‘Mission Label’ for its commitment to climate neutrality

The European Commission approved the Climate City Contract (CCC) of Torino, the Lighthouse City of the TIPS4PED project. On the morning of 22 October, during a ceremony held in Strasbourg the Mayor Stefano Lo Russo, accompanied by the Deputy Mayor for Ecological and Digital Transition Chiara Foglietta, received the Eu Mission Label, the formal recognition of the approval of the contract.

The entire TIPS4PED project consortium is proud to acknowledge that three of the project’s key partners, Commune di Torino, Politecnico di Torino and Iren, have been instrumental in delivering this significant mark of recognition of the efforts being made to combat the climate crisis. The achievement of this objective, which the city has worked on together with the Polytechnic University and numerous other institutional partners, not only positions Turin as a model for other European cities, certifying the projects presented as serious and relevant by the Commission’s external experts, but also aims to facilitate access to public and private funding towards the goal of climate neutrality, providing incentives to invest in the city.

Mayor Stefano Lo Russo and Deputy Mayor for Ecological and Digital Transition Chiara Foglietta receive the EU Mission Label. Credits: City of Turin

‘This is a very important day,’ explained Mayor Stefano Lo Russo, ’which recognises work towards what has been the priority on the political agenda of our term of office and will remain so in the coming years, namely the ecological transition and the fight against climate change. The drafting of the Climate City Contract took more than two years of intense work, with frequent interactions between numerous actors in the city, and allowed us to systemise a series of activities developed by our administration since it took office, with the commitment to further strengthen them and consolidate them for the future, continuing on the challenging path towards climate neutrality’.

‘The goal,’ according to Councillor Chiara Foglietta , ‘is a reduction of more than 80 per cent of CO2 emissions by 2030 compared to 2019 values through measures that will also have a structural effect on reducing pollution and improving air quality, results for which Turin has initiated an inclusive and collaborative process.

Through the co-design process and the scientific support of the Politecnico di Torino with the EST@energycenter laboratory, which also led to the design and implementation of a CLICC web-based IT platform, a set of 31 macro-actions was defined, understood not as specific punctual interventions, but as wide-ranging strategic actions capable of significantly affecting the overall urban system, determining significant effects on Turin’s emissions balance. For each macro-action, possible co-benefits have been identified in different areas, from improving air quality to combating energy poverty and social inequalities to important positive effects on health.

Grouped into 5 areas – Buildings and Industry, Transport, Waste, Energy, Urban Forestry – of the 31 macro-actions, 27 refer to mitigation measures resulting in an estimated 66.7% reduction in emissions compared to the 2019 baseline year, the other 4 offset 55.4% of the remaining emissions, corresponding to 18.5% of the 2019 baseline. Overall, a reduction of 85.2% is expected by 2030, a strong reduction in emissions that will allow the City to get as close as possible to the goal of climate neutrality.

‘The work to draw up the Climate City Contract, in close collaboration with the City, represents a very concrete implementation of the University’s vision to support policy makers, through a science-based approach and a process of innovation in approaches and tools,’ commented the Rector of the Politecnico di Torino Stefano Corgnati.

A journey that started a long time ago, when the European Union’s ‘mission’ on climate-neutral and smart cities (Mission Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities by 2030) was launched, with the aim of accelerating the transition towards climate neutrality in 100 European cities chosen as a reference by 2030 (anticipating the 2050 forecast by the Green Deal) and opening a call addressed to all European cities.

Together with 376 other European cities, Turin sent in its candidature on 31 January 2022 and received a positive response on 28 April of the same year. A total of 100 cities in Europe were chosen, including eight others in Italy (Bergamo, Bologna, Florence, Milan, Padua, Parma, Prato and Rome).

20 cities were awarded the EU Mission Label in Strasbourg, including five from Italy. Credits: City of Turin

June saw the start of discussions with the European Commission, the constitution of the local Transition team, interlocutions with the other eight Italian cities selected, and a series of meetings and workshops to define strategies with the aim of drawing up a Climate City Contract with an overall plan of actions to reduce climate-changing gas emissions, including all urban sectors: energy, construction, transport, industry, urban green and waste management.

The City of Turin immediately began working on its Climate City Contract by setting up a Mission team, which involved the Environment and Ecological Transition and European Funds and PNRR departments with the scientific support of the Politecnico di Torino through its EST (Energy Security and Transition Lab) laboratory in the Energy Centre, coordinated by Professor Ettore Bompard, with the expertise of the Energy Department, the Department of Environmental, Land and Infrastructure Engineering and the Department of Architecture and Design, which provided the mathematical modelling and developed an innovative dedicated IT platform.

This was followed by 17 bilateral meetings for individual categories of actors (companies in which the City has a stake, the world of universities and research, trade associations, banking groups and foundations, supra-local public institutions) and continued with a cycle of thematic workshops and meetings for the co-design of actions, with the support of the Environment Park. In July 2023, it was the turn of the business world, then in September it was the turn of representatives of the tertiary sector, and in February this year hundreds of high school students were involved through the ‘Dimmi la tua’ or ‘Tell me yours’ pathway.

In all, there are six initial signatories of the Climate City Contract (City of Turin, Metropolitan City, Piedmont Region, Polytechnic University of Turin, University of Turin and Chamber of Commerce), 16 the main partners (Gtt, Iren, Smat, InfraTo, Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation, Crt Foundation, Csi Piemonte, 5t, Arpa Piemonte, Atc, Intesa Sanpaolo, UniCredit, Reale Group, Cassa depositi e prestiti, Sagat, Italgas) and 60 the supporters.

The Climate City Contract puts in black and white the concrete and programmatic commitment of the various actors, starting with the City, in implementing the climate transition by identifying both the concrete actions to be implemented to reach the emission reduction targets and an economic budget necessary for each of them that will be gradually recovered. It represents a significant moment for the City, reinforcing and strengthening the activities carried out and planned so far, and relaunching the synergies with all the city’s actors, from citizens to industry, from the finance sector to university bodies.

Cities, such as Turin, will play a key role in efforts to combat the climate crisis.

Cities play a central role in the transition to climate neutrality. Globally, they consume 65% of energy and produce more than 70% of CO2 emissions. Without a decisive commitment at the local level, it will not be possible to meet the targets of the Paris Agreement and the European ‘Green Deal’. A role already acknowledged by the city during the last edition of the COP28 on climate in Dubai, which, for the first time, brought together the cities, including Turin, that are most committed to contributing to the efforts made by each nation to reduce emissions and counter the effects of the climate crisis.

Turin, the Politecnico di Torino and Iren’s participation in the TIPS4PED project to develop Digital Twins to support the implementation of Positive Energy Districts is putting the Climate City Contract into concrete action. Together, these partners, along with the rest of the TIPS4PED consortium, will be instrumental in forging a path forward to more sustainable urban districts that are climate neutral with regards to energy consumption and production.

For readers with a good grasp of Italian, a new podcast entitled ‘Torino cambia – per un futuro sostenibile’ (Torino changes – for a sustainable future) has been launched. Produced by the City of Turin in cooperation with the Politecnico di Torino and produced by Radio Onde Quadre and Acting Out, it aims, with the contribution of experts and others involved, to tell citizens how the City and its habits are changing to respond to the climate challenge. The podcast episodes can be found on the City’s website or on podcast platforms.

This article was adapted from an original article in Italian, produced by the City of Turin and published on www.torinoclick.it , the original article can be found in full here: https://www.torinoclick.it/territorio/a-torino-la-mission-label-dellue-per-limpego-verso-la-neutralita-climatica-il-riconoscimento-oggi-a-strasburgo/#