Across Europe, 52 cities have been piloting innovative approaches to achieve climate neutrality, testing ways to cut emissions, implement new financing models, and turn abstract climate goals into practical, local action. Over two years, the cities engaged more than 184,000 citizens, trained over 1,400 public officers, created 256 new jobs, launched 40 follow-up projects, and recorded a potential reduction of over 418,000 tonnes of CO₂, alongside energy savings of 864 GWh per year. These efforts show that city-led climate action can generate measurable environmental, economic, and social benefits while building momentum for systemic change.
Pilot projects revealed that transformation begins with everyday decisions and coordinated governance. In Lahti, workplace mobility experiments reduced thousands of tonnes of CO₂ while clarifying departmental responsibilities, showing how internal behaviour change can scale city-wide. Cities such as Cluj-Napoca and Guimarães engaged tens of thousands of residents through schools, participatory budgeting, and community events, embedding climate responsibility into local culture and decision-making. Others, like Malmö and Galway, focused on buildings and neighbourhoods, implementing energy efficiency measures, home retrofitting, and district-level energy strategies that created long-term infrastructure for sustainable urban living.
A recurring lesson across the Pilot Cities Programme was the importance of governance. Cities restructured decision-making, introduced collaborative and data-driven approaches, and integrated pilots into broader climate strategies. Municipalities also explored finance, circular construction, energy transition, behaviour change, and just transition approaches, demonstrating that systemic transformation requires more than technical interventions—it depends on collaboration, transparent processes, and sustained engagement.
The programme produced 540 deliverables, which served as catalysts for engagement, data use, partnerships, and learning, helping cities embed climate action into everyday operations. Several cities have already incorporated pilot insights into long-term plans, showing that the transition continues beyond initial funding. Overall, the Pilot Cities Programme illustrates that climate neutrality is achievable when local governments, residents, businesses, and institutions work together, testing solutions, learning from experience, and scaling effective practices across neighbourhoods and cities.
