Budapest Wins EUR 1.5 Mn to Support its Climate Goals

Budapest has won a grant of HUF one and half million (HUF 564 million) in the Climate Neutral and Smart Cities Mission, which will be used to establish the Budapest Climate Agency, the Mayor's Office announced on Wednesday.

Budapest has been selected as one of the 53 cities from across 21 European Union and Horizon 2020 Associated Countries that have been invited to “embark upon unprecedented climate action, through the NetZeroCities Pilot Cities Program managed by the Mission Platform of the EU Mission on Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities (EU Cities Mission),” according to the NetZeroCities project.

The Pilot Cities Program supports European cities to test and implement innovative approaches to rapid decarbonization over a two-year pilot program, working across thematic areas and functional silos in support of systemic transformation.

The selection of pilots seeks to address all urban systems contributing to climate-neutrality, including mobility, energy systems and the built environment, material and resource flows, natural areas, cultural/social/financial/institutional systems, and accessible public spaces.

The Hungarian capital aims to set up the Budapest Climate Agency, which will be the first to support energy efficiency investments by residents, accelerating the reduction of city-level emissions of climate-changing greenhouse gases and health-damaging particles, they added.

To support energy efficiency investments and tackle energy poverty, the municipality will develop a comprehensive, sustainable, large-scale and multi-stakeholder support program, including the creation of the Budapest Climate Agency, which will use the internationally-used Super ESCO business model as its first task, they said.

The ‘Super Energy Service Company’ is a service that provides support for energy efficiency investments through a partnership between the public and private sectors, the statement said.

The climate agency, which is expected to start operations in 2024, will not manage subsidies, but will manage the development of support schemes that banks can lend money for.