Solution Bundles: A tool in the path through climate neutrality

Do you want to know the tool before telling you more about it? Enter to the Beta version here

In 2022, the European Commission choosed 112 cities to participate in the”100 Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities by 2030″ initiative (27 european and 12 from partner countries). These cities would receive technical support from the Mission Cities platform run by the European NetZeroCities project, with the objective of acting as centres of experimentation and innovation to reach climate neutrality by 2030; as well as serving as model for other cities to reach the same goal by 2050.

Since the start of the project, NetZeroCities has supported the 112 cities selected as “Mission Cities”, which have participated in programmes such as the “Pilot Cities Programme” and the “Twinning Learning Programme”.

To formalise this sustainability objective, NetZeroCities project has supported the development of Climate City Contracts in the selected cities. These formalise an agreement between the city, its stakeholders (such as companies, civil organisations and citizens) and the European Commission; setting out clear and specific commitments for 2030 and 2050.

NetZeroCities context

Climate City Contract: a contract through climate neutrality

Climate City Contract (CCC) is an action plan that allows the municipality to define the actions and the public and private municipal actors involved in the development of actions aimed at achieving climate neutrality by 2030 and 2050. This process is iterative and allows for new commitments and periodic evaluation of the measures taken.

Climate City Contract Sections

This document establishes a comprehensive strategy divided into three main lines of intervention, the agreement of the parties called commitments, the strategy for climate neutrality called Action plan and the economic model that supports it, called Investmen plan.

To do, cities must formalise a common commitment among all stakeholders, identifying priority sectors, principles of climate justice and collaboration, and actors committed to the city´s climate goals. It then presents an action plan that assesses the strengths and gaps of existing policies, proposing a portfolio of coordinated interventions that includes an emissions inventory as a starting point and highlights the social benefits of the proposed actions, as well as providing conclusions for future updates of the plan. In this section, Solution Bundles play a crucial role in offering direct solutions to move towards climate neutrality and facilitate the necessary commitments and processes to achieve it in each city together with the stakeholders invovled. Finally, an investment plan is developed that organises public and private resources, analyses past and current investments, identifies barriers and needs, and develops policies to attract capital, mitigate financial risks and build capacity with the active participation of key stakeholders.

*NetZeroCities. European Mission Cities*

The tool: Solution Bundles

Concept and Description

From CARTIF, the team compound by Rosalía Simón, Ana Belén Gómez , Andrea Gabaldón, Carolina Pastor y Carla Rodríguez, has developed this tool to support cities in the development of their Climate City Contract. Solution Bundles provide combinations of enabling technologies and mechanisms that when implemented together maximise their impact, facilitating the selection of actions aimed at achieving climate neutrality. The aim is to facilitate the visualisation of a comprehensive and effective approach, improving acces to the NetZeroCities Information Repository and the understanding of innovative urban solutions.

In addition, Solution Bundles can be used as a canvas in the work of engaging local stakeholders to increase their participation; they act as an interactive canvas for workshops, facilitating the creation of resources or knowledge between municipalities and other stakeholders.

*Packages of actions designed to mitigate climate change and achieve carbon neutrality in cities*

The tool has four packages, which allow the selection of diverse technologies through interactive and simple diagrams; as well as presenting this information in relation to the scale of implementation (City, District and Building).

“E-Movility and electrification”: The included solutions on this package are focus on the production of renewable energy and the decarbonization of all sectors through electrification.
“Low-carbon energy via setor coupling”: This package focuses on connecting different sectors through energy systems, applying principles of circular economy and waste reuse.
“Reduction of energy & resources needs”: This package hosts passive solutions focused on reducing energy needs in the built environment, increasing the efficiency of resource and energy utilisation systems.
”Carbon capture, storage & removal”: This package focuses on reducing energy needs through carbon sinks, eliminating residual emissions and using Nature Based Solutions (NBS) to manage the city’s ecosystems and optimise carbon sequestration.

Development of the tool and implementation on the portal

Its development is being carried out in different phases, with the aim of implementing feedback from different users and cities. Initially, it will be focused on helping Mission Cities, but with the aim of supporting all cities in their process towards climate neutrality by 2050.

Currently, the tool is still under development and only two of the four packages are active; they are available on the project’s portal as beta version for Mission Cities.

How to use it?

Choose your approach: Beggin selecting the package you want to focus on: “E-Movility and electrification”, “Low-carbon energy via setor coupling”, “Reduction of energy & resources needs” y ”Carbon capture, storage & removal”.
Filtering options:You can then customise your view by checking or unchecking boxes to show or hide specific areas of the package. This feature helps you focus on the solutions most relevant to your objective, reducing the number of actions presented and making the process more efficient.

Explore solutions: The solutions shown are linked to factsheets in the NetZeroCities Information Repository, related scientific articles and case studies, covering various thematic areas. If you want more information about the technical solutions, you can access to the following link.
Connection to Enabling Mechanisms: At the top of the tool, you will find connections to other resources (Finance, Policy and Governance, and Capacity) for the selected package. These new resources provide information on how to improve the strategic framework where solutions are implemented.