The City of Turin has received official recognition from the European Mission “100 Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities by 2030”, marking a crucial step in its race towards climate neutrality by 2030. The prestigious award, conferred on 22 October at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, seals a commitment that took shape as early as 31 January 2022, when Turin officially sent its candidacy to the European Commission to be part of the group of pioneering cities in environmental sustainability.
Selected on April 28 of the same year, Turin has embarked on an ambitious and articulated path, culminating in the drafting of a real “climate contract” signed in collaboration with the European Union and a vast network of local and national partners. The city has in fact involved the Metropolitan City, the Piedmont Region, the Polytechnic of Turin, the University of Turin and the Chamber of Commerce. Sixteen main partners, including GTT, Iren, SMAT, Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo, Intesa Sanpaolo and UniCredit, together with sixty supporters, have joined forces to ensure a concrete and shared commitment towards a more sustainable and intelligent Turin.
The contract provides for the implementation of interventions in key sectors such as buildings and industry, transport, waste management, energy and urban forestry, some of which have already been started. But the heart of the project is also and above all the participatory process: hundreds of young people took part in the consultation meetings, and the involvement of citizens is destined to grow further.
The mayor of Turin Stefano Lo Russo, who was present at the ceremony, commented on his social networks as follows: “Today’s big day in Strasbourg certifies a work of over two years that has involved many stakeholders, private companies, and universities to make Turin at the forefront in the fight against climate change, define a list of priority actions and to put in place in a structured way an action that our city will have to carry out in the coming years to bring forward the goal of climate neutrality to 2030. Truly a great recognition: it is a project in which we strongly believed, which today has an end point with the delivery of the label and a starting point for the implementation of the actions we have defined“.
Also present in Strasbourg commented on the news, with a post, Chiara Foglietta, Councillor for Ecological and Digital Transition, Environment, Mobility, Transport and Innovation of the City of Turin: “When we had the first meeting with some employees of the Municipality, still far from the possibility of being chosen among the 100 pioneering European cities on the path towards climate neutrality, We looked into each other’s eyes wondering if we would be able to tackle such a challenging project. Today I took each of them ideally with me to Strasbourg. And, with them, every person who has spent energy to allow us to get this far, working in a group, horizontally in his institution and with other institutions, who has spent hours in training and in comparison with the European Commission and with other Italian cities, who has searched and analyzed data, who has organized events and moments to listen to the territoriesor. Today’s is the recognition of the work done, but also the start of what will be. And it’s an exciting day “.
The Strasbourg event, therefore, represents for the administration not only a certification of the work already done, but also a new starting point for what Turin aims to become: a city at the forefront of sustainability, thanks to a broad and consolidated alliance that will continue to work with and for the community.
