How do the EU's 100 Climate Neutral and Smart Cities and Climate Change Adaptation missions stimulate synergies between central and local governments and the development of workable investment models? 

The Ministry of Environment and Water together with the Climate Coalition and the Energy Efficiency Center EnEffect are organising an international conference on "Climate policies as an opportunity for investment in urban development", part of the side programme of the 61st session of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The event will take place on 30 July 2024 at 10:30 am at the Millennium Hotel, Sofia, Da Vinci Hall 2. 

In addition to reducing carbon emissions and increasing energy efficiency, climate policies can contribute to creating favourable conditions for attracting investment in innovative solutions and improving infrastructure in Bulgarian municipalities. In this context, the conference will focus on the role of local authorities in implementing modern solutions for energy efficiency, renewable energy and adaptation to climate change. For this purpose, together with the mayors of leading Bulgarian municipalities who have confirmed their participation so far - Vasil Terziev (Sofia Municipality), Dimitar Nikolov (Burgas Municipality), Tanya Hristova (Gabrovo Municipality) and Donka Mihailova (Troyan Municipality), representatives of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, DG Research and Innovation and DG Climate Action of the European Commission have been invited to participate. Successive sessions will present results from innovative projects and discuss funding opportunities for local sustainable energy initiatives. The event will also feature panel discussions with mayors in the fields of climate and energy, discussing not only the ambitious targets set in the EU's 100 Climate Neutral and Smart Cities and Climate Change Adaptation Missions, but also the possibility for these missions to become a bridge for fast and effective implementation of investment concepts with traceable and demonstrable results. 

In the context of the main theme of the 61st session of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - "Cities and Climate" - one of the objectives of the event is to prepare and present a declaration on the importance of providing local authorities with the necessary resources and powers to implement their own policies and attract investment in sustainable urban development solutions.

The event programme can be found here and pre-registration is required for participation.