I M P A C T REPORT HOW ENERGY CITIES ENERGISED POLICY, 2019PEOPLE & PLACES 2019 began with the launch of the Energy Cities manifesto ‘Claim- ing a Crisis’ and it ended with the launch of the European Green Deal. Those two events are related. In between people from ev- ery level of government and from around the world gathered in Heidelberg for the International Conference on Climate Action. Together, because we must always act together, all levels of government signed the Partnership Declaration on Collaborative Climate Action. 2020 opens a new era for cities and our urgent response to cli- mate change. It is also the end of a previous era. Declarations of #SHOWSHARESHAKE climate action have been written and signed, climate emergen- cies have been issued, people have taken to the streets like never WELCOME TO THE ENERGY CITIES before – calling for a change in the way we live, in the places we IMPACT REPORT FOR 2019, A YEAR live and the rules under which we live. 2020 is the beginning of a new era in which we deliver on those demands with greater WHEN THE MEMBERS OF ENERGY CITIES urgency than ever before. STEPPED TO THE FORE TO “SHOW, 2020 is also the 30th anniversary of Energy Cities. Founded in the SHARE AND SHAKE” IDEAS, PROJECTS run-up to the Rio Summit and just after the fall of the Berlin Wall. AND PLANS ABOUT HOW TO BUILD Astonishing change has occurred in the last three decades as the A BETTER CITY FOR PEOPLE. THIS network has grown to include hundreds of cities in 30 countries. 30 years is an important milestone and the halfway point to net REPORT IS NOT ABOUT WHAT WE HAVE zero by 2050. The changes we will see in the next 30 years should DONE, IT IS ABOUT THE IMPACT WE FOREWORD be even more astonishing. HAVE HAD ON THE PEOPLE, PLACES City and citizen partnerships are the bedrock of change. They AND POLICIES THAT DETERMINE are an unstoppable force in delivering on climate action although HOW WE LIVE. much more needs to be done. The welcome ambitions coming from national and European leaders need to be matched with the necessary resources and policy changes. This allows cities to transform themselves into the places that our people want them to be. This isn’t just about money, it’s about working as an equal party with regional, national and European levels of government, our citizens and our broader communities in thousands of Climate Pacts across Europe. That is how the members of Energy Cities are transforming our cities, our economies and our future, together. 2 3 7 SHOW t is repor So in th D The people & cities L NOT FIN that drive the work YOU WIL we do • All the projects we are active in; all the inspiring places we have been invited to present the energy transition; all great partners we are working with; we can only give you a snapshot of the main highlights. • Metrics of web visits, number of pages we read, retweets, 10 number of beers with decision-makers and other measurements of our activities: too many figures kill the debate. • The full description of our talented and committed team: SHARE you can find this on our website. Places are changing • Briefings on major EU policy developments and trends: in inspiring ways. these are provided in our regular newsletter and website. 14 CONTENTS ILL FIND YOU W SHAKE • What we achieved by influencing decision-makers Policy rules and how we did it for cities and people • The stories from the people in our community to further a shared • The places across Europe that set best practices energy transition and embrace the energy transition • What’s next: Main milestones of 2020 and how to get involved. 16 2020 Exciting times make for busy schedules 4 5 SHOW people and cities THAT DRIVE THE WORK People are what make cities WE DO worth living in and they are what makes Energy Cities so successful. City and citizens partnerships continue to be the bedrock of change and an unstoppable force. 2019 saw the launch of the TOMORROW Project where six pilot cities will develop their tran- sition roadmaps together with their citizens and stakeholders. They are guided by ‘lighthouse’ cities whose own experience will smooth their path. TOMORROW will produce a set of factsheets and methodological guidelines to be used by other European cit- ies who want to develop innovative engagement processes. https://energy-cities.eu/project/tomorrow/ PARTNERS LIGHTHOUSE CITIES Drift, City of Brașov, Brest Växjö (SE), Göteborg (SE), Métropole, CODEMA - Local Nantes (FR), Paris (FR), energy agency of Dublin, City Leuven (BE), Ghent(BE) of Mouscron, City of Niš, City and more. of Valencia. 6 7 In May, hundreds of mayors from across Europe signed our joint letter to European leaders calling for a net-zero Europe SUCCESS STORIES ARE THE BEST by 2050 and stronger targets in between. And the mayors were heard: Over 70 articles in 14 countries reported on the letter, WAY TO CONVINCE PEOPLE THAT including the Financial Times. In July, Ursula von der Leyen an- nounced that, as President of the European Commission, she CHANGE IS POSSIBLE. would adopt the goal for Europe – a stunning testament to the power of Europe’s mayors and the numerous civil society groups calling for greater ambition. We launched As of this year, our net- In the same spirit, “Inspir- https://energy-cities.eu/unprecedented-show-of-ambition- work’s ‘City Stories’ podcast ing Minds” is a collection of from-mayors-across-europe-on-a-shared-energy-transition/ two different brings you regular one on one, interviews with the men and initiatives in personal interviews from peo- women working in cities, en- 2019 to share ple building the shared ener- ergy and related fields about gy transition in cities across what they have learned, what stories from the Europe. gives them hope and what larger Energy https://soundcloud.com/ they think the future might Communities energy-cities have in store for cities in community. transition. You can find both the podcasts and written in- terviews regularly updated on our website. https://energy-cities.eu/ inspiring-minds/ Alba del Campo, Cadix To reach the unusual suspects we have to design different ways of participation. Speaking of the website, we revamped our website completely in 2019 and also launched a new logo. The new Joining forces with like-minded people and organisations website helps us better share brought other benefits to the energy transition in 2019. As part your stories and communicate of the ‘Fossil-fuel Free EIB’ campaign, our network was able to with our community and the achieve one of its first manifesto wins: in November, the bank energised logo reflects the announced that it will phase out fossil fuel lending from 2021. dynamism we are bringing to This will free up billions to be invested in renewable energy in Sofie Verhoeven, Ghent The magic of trial-and-error to this new era. our cities and is a major milestone that is inspiring other devel- empower citizens. opment banks worldwide to reconsider their business. https://energy-cities.eu/5-takeaways- from-the-eibs-new-energy-lending-policy/ 8 9 SHARE PLACES ARE CHANGING IN INSPIRING WAYS Places are constantly changing. Energy Cities has been fortunate to work with countless members in changing their cities for the better. The following are just brief glimpses of change but rest assured the changes go further, faster and deeper than this overview. 10 11 With the peer-to-peer learning programme mPower, at least 100 local authorities will learn about local energy ownership. mPower explores how cities and citizens can manage the en- ergy transition together - in a fair, clean and democratic way. Frederikshavn, Denmark, to name just one of the many cities involved, plans to use only renewable energy by 2030 and is al- ready embracing biomass, wave energy, solar, wind and district heating in significant quantities. They are sharing their lessons from the energy transition and learning from other cities that are also pushing boundaries. https://energy-cities.eu/project/mpower-municipal-action-public- engagement-and-routes-towards-energy-transition/ Lyon Confluence, the area Some place changes are of Lyon where the Saône and obvious, a new tramline or Rhône rivers meet, is one of PV panels on buildings, but the largest urban redevelop- change is buried with District ment projects in France cov- Heating. Six 4th generation ering 1,000,000 m2 of new district heating and cool- buildings and 600,000m2 of ing ‘Living Labs’ will be effi- existing floor space. Driven ciently spreading ideas, best by the Smarter Together proj- practices and warmth in cities ect, a massive refurbishment across Europe thanks to the of dwellings, development of Heatnet project . It is estimat- local renewable energy and ed Heatnet will save 15,000 t promotion of shared e-mo- CO2e by the end of the proj- bility are underway. The city ect. Crucially it brings DHC to is also incorporating a clear countries where it is new and role for data to ensure the it recycles waste heat (think project monitors, learns and data centres) as its primary improves with time. What’s heat source. Most people in most exciting is that this mas- a city will never see the work sive place-changing will be that goes into DHC but they followed in detail by Venice, will certainly feel it! Sofia and Santiago de Com- https://energy-cities.eu/ postela so that lessons can project/heatnet-nwe/ be shared and implemented as quickly as possible.