Municipality's climate action highlighted in Valencia

On the occasion of Valencia Cities Climate Week, which took place on June 25, 26, and 27, Filipe Araújo, the Vice-Mayor of Porto, presented the municipality's strategy towards climate neutrality by 2030.

Over the course of three days, the city of Valencia, European Green Capital 2024, hosted three theme-based conferences focusing on climate action in cities: the Cities Mission Annual Conference, the Annual Forum of Energy Cities, and the European Urban Resilience Forum (EURESFO 2024). The Municipality of Porto, aiming to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030, was represented by Filipe Araújo.

In various interventions, the Councillor for the Environment and Climate Transition highlighted several actions promoted by the Municipality, based on the principles of the Porto Climate Pact and the Porto Climate Contract, demonstrating the city’s commitment to achieving carbon neutrality by 2030.

Filipe Araújo highlighted a recent initiative approved by the Municipality of Porto to offer free public transport rides to encourage citizens to adopt this means of transportation on a more regular basis.

Eyes set on sustainability

The Vice-Mayor also brought up a municipal measure aiming to reduce the property tax (IMI) for a maximum period of three years for buildings in the city with photovoltaic panels, setting a maximum value of 500 euro per kilowatt (kW) of connection power of the self-consumption generating unit.

"These are very important measures that we are promoting for the people of Porto, creating conditions so that the adoption of sustainability measures may represent environmental, economic and financial gains", said Filipe Araújo, who is also Vice-Chairman of the Board of Energy Cities.

Explaining the Porto Climate Pact, the councillor described how synergies are being implemented with multiple organisations in the city. In this context, Filipe Araújo highlighted the relationship developed with Futebol Clube do Porto in terms of sustainability.

The meetings held as part of Valencia Cities Climate Week 2024 allowed European cities to share experiences and explore solutions to become more resilient and sustainable.

The Cities Mission Conference focused on the transformation towards smart and carbon-neutral cities, while EURESFO 2024 discussed urban resilience and climate adaptation. The Energy Cities Forum highlighted the sharing of initiatives and collective actions in favour of green transition.