Barcelona accelerates its commitment to the fight against climate change

On Tuesday, March 11, Barcelona City Council is holding the IV Agenda 2030 Conference, which reaffirms the city's role as an agent of change in the climate emergency

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Barcelona is committed to promoting the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and moving towards a truly sustainable city, together with the collaboration of the city's public, business and social stakeholders. In this context, the IV Barcelona Agenda 2030 Conference: Cities that Move for the Climate will be held on Tuesday, March 11. This event, organized by Barcelona City Council, will take place in the old Ca l'Alier factory, located in Poblenou, and will focus on the challenges posed by climate change and the efforts of cities to mitigate its effects.

The Conference will reflect on the role of the city of Barcelona as an agent of change in the fight against climate change and in achieving the SDGs established by the United Nations in the 2030 Agenda. It will include various discussion panels with local and international experts, and will conclude with the presentation. It is worth remembering that in 2015 the United Nations promoted the 2030 Agenda as an international roadmap with 17 objectives and 169 social, economic and environmental goals to jointly advance towards a sustainable future.

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Indeed, this has been the spirit of the last three Agenda 2030 Conferences, held in 2021, 2022 and 2023 in Barcelona, which aim to generate knowledge through presentations and debates, and to publicly recognize good initiatives and projects through the presentation of the Agenda 2030 Awards.

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Program IV Conference of the 2030 Agenda

9:30 a.m.

Arrival, accreditation and welcome coffee.

10 - 10:15 h

Welcome. By Laia Bonet, First Deputy Mayor of Barcelona City Council, Urban Planning, Ecological Transition, Urban Services and Housing.

10:15 - 10:30 h

Opening and presentation of the Conference, by Evelyn Segura, biologist and scientific communicator.

10:30 - 11 a.m.

"The moment of climate policy in Spain and Europe" - By Hugo Morán, Secretary of State for the Environment of the Government of Spain.

11 - 12 h

"Low-emission public transport, the key to sustainable mobility" . Participants: João Vieira, Director of Strategy, Innovation and Environment at Carris-Lisbon; François Warnier, Director of Bus 2025 at RATP-Paris; Veli Rıdvanoğlu, Head of Research Development at IETT Istanbul; and Lise Dipnarine, Head of Business Development at TfL London. Moderated by Josep Mensión, Director of Central Services for the TMB BUS Network.

12 - 13 h

"European NetZeroCities mission: what do cities need to achieve their goals?" . Participants: Anna Lisa Boni, Deputy Mayor for European Recovery Funds, Ecological Transition and International Relations of the City of Bologna; Mar Jiménez, Commissioner for European Affairs of the City of Barcelona; Ada Ámon, Executive Director of the Budapest Climate Agency, and Manuel Szapiro, Director of the European Commission Representation in Barcelona. Moderated by Isabella Longo, Senior Project Coordinator NetZeroCities of Eurocities.

14 -15 h

"Joining forces for climate action: urban climate policies in collaboration with citizens, entities and companies" . Participants: Laia Bonet, First Deputy Mayor of Barcelona City Council, and Magdalena Mlochowska, Coordinator of Green Warsaw (Warsaw City Council). Moderated by Anja de Cunto, Director of Participation and European Public Affairs at C40.

15:30 - 17 h

Barcelona + Sustainable Agenda 2030 Awards Ceremony.

17 h

Closing.

The sessions are part of the Climate Plan, presented in November 2024. The main objective is to adapt the city to the risks and impacts of global warming, and to move towards climate neutrality. The Climate Plan allocates 1.8 billion euros to be able to implement, until 2030, specific measures in favour of decarbonisation, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and the adaptation of the city to climate change.

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In addition, in 2022 the European Commission will choose the city of Barcelona from among 400 candidates to be part of the "European Mission 100 smart and climate-neutral cities by 2030", a novelty of Horizon Europe, the main funding programme for research and development. This membership explicitly recognises Barcelona's commitment to the fight against climate change and the effort in its decarbonisation strategy.

Climate Plan: responsibility in the face of the climate emergency

1. Energy Transition PlanInvesting in renewable energy production and converting public spaces as energy-generating elements.
2. Mobility PlanReduce the need for travel with new urban and metropolitan centres, facilitate active mobility and electrify the fleet of municipal vehicles and urban services (TMB buses, cleaning vehicles, City Police vehicles, etc.).
3. Barris Climate PlanCarry out a social and fair transition with the territories, deploying a strategy to preserve the health of citizens in a context of climate change.
4. Resilience PlanAddressing current and future climate challenges such as drought, flooding, rising sea levels and forest fires. For example, by widening the Diagonal collector to adapt the city to heavy rainfall, or by creating new spaces to increase the amount of greenery in the city.
5. Heat PlanPrepare the city for high temperatures by implementing a shading strategy with cooling spaces indoors and in public spaces.
6. We Change for the Climate PlanRely on the alliance of residents and the social, economic and scientific fabric of the city to promote a culture of sustainability, knowledge, values and citizen experience in socio-environmental challenges.

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Some of the approved measures arising from the Climate Plan have already been implemented or are being implemented in the city. For example, the transition to LED optics in the traffic lights at Barcelona's 1,803 intersections will result in 85% savings in energy consumption and 18 tons of CO2.² per year compared to incandescent lights. The measures of the Mobility Plan are those that have contributed most to improving the air: the current limit value set by the European Union for nitrogen dioxide (NO²) and there is a general decrease compared to 2023. The urban park that connects the neighborhoods of Marina de Puerto, Can Clos and Montjuïc mountain has also been inaugurated, creating 14,400 m² of green areas and four new residential buildings, two of them public housing.

IV Agenda 2030 Conference

Day and timeTuesday, March 11, at 9:30 a.m.
LocationPere IV Street, 362 (former Ca l'Alier factory).
Pre-registrationThe event is open to all citizens and registration is free via the website <a href="https://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/agenda2030/ca" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">barcelona.cat/agenda2030</a> .