This FPA provides comprehensive programming and support for the European Commission’s Mission of 100 Climate-neutral and Smart Cities by 2030. It builds on the NetZeroCities (NZC) project, coordinated by CKIC. Combined, these two initiatives set out actions as follows: (a) Create and operate a Cities Mission Platform as a ‘one-stop-shop’ to access the expertise, capabilities, services, and solutions necessary to achieve climate neutrality. This Platform will provide tailored and intensive support to cities participating in the Mission and will ensure open access to the knowledge and resources of the Platform. (b) Help all Mission Cities with the co-creation and use of Climate City Contracts (CCC) to enable an ambitious pursuit of the goal of climate neutrality by 2030. This FPA expressly seeks to ensure all Mission Cities are supported and builds directly on the initial scope of NZC. In addition, support will be offered to additional cities seeking to follow closely the Mission. (c) Assist Mission cities in the development of tailor-made investment plans, project preparation and finance for the cities participating in the Mission; (d) Deliver substantial resources to Mission cities for ongoing research and innovation activities critical to achieving climate neutrality by 2030. This support will be in the form of ‘pilot’ funding to test and demonstrate actions needed to deliver climate neutral outcomes. This pilot activity will work together with the Platform and CCC processes in the cities, operationalizing emerging knowledge and insights about how cities can achieve the Mission objectives; and (e) Ensure ongoing monitoring and evaluation of cities in their progress toward climate neutrality and deploy peer-based learning to ensure full appropriability of the result from the Mission. The FPA periods extends through 2027 and provides for two planned Specific Grant Agreement (SGA) phases, where a precise plan, targets and metrics will be established.

SWARM-E is a trans- and multi-disciplinary approach for sustainable, affordable and modern energy access and well-being for Sub-Saharan Africa, aligned with the AU-EU Agenda 2063. SWARM-E consists of several layers: 1) an innovative renewable electricity infrastructure, the SWARM grid, a circular and cyber-smart network where end-users exchange electricity of their solar home systems and form the nodes of a smart grid which can dynamically grow to meet demand; 2) unlocking unutilised renewable energy for productive uses in the water energy food nexus – cold storage, water purification, water pumping and irrigation, carpentry; 3) transfer and decentralisation of Global North energy transformation innovations – decentralised hydrogen production for cleaner cooking, bi-directional charging of light electric vehicles (two- and three-wheelers) to transport goods and people. SWARM-E builds on network effects generated through the inclusion of localised economies with strong producer-consumer linkages embedded within larger systems of trade and exchange for the creation of bottom-up energy communities. SWARM-E will operate and replicate 5 pilots in Rwanda and Tanzania, under which 5 SWARM grids are installed, delivering 6.9 GWh of renewable electricity while generating income through the trading of electricity and avoiding the discard of 3,200 batteries; 5 water purification applications deliver 101.M L of clean water; 15 light electric vehicles deliver farmers’ produce, power mobile productive uses and cold storage, increasing the yields of 1,000 farmers and reducing the food losses of more than 5,000; 700 kg of H2 are blended with LPG for cleaner cooking, and more than 500 jobs for women and youth are created. The balanced participation of EU and AU private, public and civil society organisations in the consortium will ensure the knowledge transfer North-South and South-South, and the sustainability of value chains based on local value creation and entrepreneurship.

This SGA provides comprehensive programming and support for the European Commission’s Mission of 100 Climate-neutral and Smart Cities by 2030. It builds on the NetZeroCities (NZC) project, coordinated by CKIC. Combined, these two projects set out actions as follows: (a) Create and operate a Cities Mission Platform as a ‘one-stop-shop’ to access the expertise, capabilities, services, and solutions necessary to achieve climate neutrality. This Platform will provide tailored and intensive support to cities participating in the Mission and will ensure open access to the knowledge and resources of the Platform. (b) Help all Mission Cities with the co-creation and use of Climate City Contracts (CCC) to enable an ambitious pursuit of the goal of climate neutrality by 2030. This SGA expressly seeks to ensure all Mission Cities are supported and builds directly on the initial scope of NZC. In addition, support will be offered to additional cities seeking to follow the Mission closely. (c) Assist Mission cities in the development of tailor-made investment plans, project preparation and finance for the cities participating in the Mission. (d) Deliver substantial resources to Mission cities for ongoing research and innovation activities critical to achieving climate neutrality by 2030. This support will be in the form of ‘pilot’ funding to test and demonstrate actions needed to deliver climate neutral outcomes. This pilot activity will work together with the Platform and CCC processes in the cities, operationalising emerging knowledge and insights about how cities can achieve the Mission objectives.

Climate change (CC) is an increasing threat at European and global scale affecting social stability, public health, and well- being. The Mediterranean (Med) has been recognized as a CC hotspot and is among the least economically developed of the main EEA European biogeographical regions. Adapting to CC demands requires a radical shift from piecemeal to transformative strategies and approaches, supporting policy development at all levels and advancing transversal and multilevel governance solutions. Nature-based solutions (NbS) to preserve and restore ecosystems, increase climate resilience, sustainably manage the environment, while providing wider long-term socioeconomic benefits, are at the heart of the European CC Adaptation (CCA) Mission Adaptation Plan objective to support at least 150 European regions and communities to become climate resilient by 2030 and a main EUGD pillar. In DesirMED, NbS will be prioritized, together with innovative technologies and inclusive social practices. DesirMED will increase ambition, ownership and capability of regional Med leaders and communities through proven transformative CCA approaches. Recognising that successful adaptation generally occurs at local and regional levels, DesirMED involves a multilevel set of actors in 5 Demonstrating regions (DRr) and 3 Replicating Regions (RRs) working hand- in-hand with scientific partners to foster holistic approaches to implement transformative adaptation. DesirMED, by engaging at the regional level key institutions in a multi-level governance framework, will act as a catalyser to trigger and accelerate the necessary action in key community systems. Overall, DesirMED will strengthen knowledge and capabilities of Med regions and communities to take leadership and ownership in their transformative CCA pathways and accelerate the implementation of transformative solutions required to increase their resilience over the long term.

NetZeroCities (NZC) is designed to pursue the ambition of the report from the Mission Board for Climate Neutral and Smart Cities, as part of a broader European ambition to achieve climate neutrality before 2050. This ambition represents a substantial elevation of the degrees of decarbonisation and the timescale for achieving it. For all cities achieving this level of impact is an extraordinary undertaking and would require profound changes in how policies, projects and programmes are advanced by cities, with the direction and support of senior governments. NZC connects and builds beyond established programmes and experimental initiatives. The NetZeroCities consortium is build based on partners? expertise, experience, and access to a very large network of cities of all sizes and maturity throughout Europe. It has an excellent balance of partner typologies, a great geographical coverage allowing presence and activity all throughout Europe, and thanks to that, its approach goes beyond current state-of-the-art. NetZeroCities will create a programme tailored to the specific conditions of each city. All the services and thematic expertise will be aggregated and co-designed through a NZC one-stop-shop Platform and the digital portal and smart repository for impact measurement, capacity building and knowledge/tools dissemination. Cities will benefit from an intensive support relationship of dedicated City Guides to navigate the platform and ensure city needs are adequately understood and addressed. NetZeroCities will support pilots in 30 European cities and, in subsequent rounds of engagement, more than 100 cities to achieving carbon neutrality by 2030 (medium-term) and 2050 (long term) respectively, by developing and deploying an integral approach to support climate-neutral transformation in cities. This will be achieved through the co-design and organisation of services, including the Climate-neutral City Contract as an enabling instrument.