The Green City Accord is a European Commission initiative launched in October 2020 to help cities improve environmental conditions and residents’ quality of life. It brings together mayors who commit to making their cities cleaner, healthier and more sustainable, while supporting the European Green Deal and the implementation of EU environmental law. 211
The Accord sets out five areas for action: air quality, water management, nature and biodiversity, circular economy and waste, and noise reduction. Signatory cities establish baseline conditions and targets within two years, put policies and programmes in place to meet their goals by 2030, and report on implementation and progress. The reporting framework uses 15 indicators; cities submit a baseline report and then report on progress at regular intervals. 458
The European Commission launched the initiative with support from Eurocities, ICLEI Europe and the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR), which also support its implementation. 1112 The Accord’s 2020–2025 progress report describes advances across the five areas, while noting that results vary: for example, more than 90% of reporting cities met EU particulate-matter standards, and signatories set a target to raise average tree-canopy cover to 32.7% by 2030. 7 The initiative’s value lies in giving cities a shared framework for setting local goals, tracking results and exchanging practices; its progress depends on cities reporting comparable data and carrying out the measures they have pledged. 47