In the context of the discussion, the Mayor of Kozani, Lazaros Maloutas, stated among others:
“Today we are in front of a fortunate coincidence. The Eurobarometer shows that 91% of people aged 15-24 believe that tackling climate change can improve their health and well-being, while 84% of people aged 55 and older agree. Nearly half of Europeans (49%) consider climate change to be the main global challenge for the EU’s future.
The Municipality of Kozani is at the forefront of these developments. The European Green Agreement and the Government’s decision for decarbonisation, make the Municipality of Kozani, the largest energy Municipality in the country with lignite electricity generation, facing the biggest challenge in its history: To form a new development and productive model for the region – in cooperation with local social institutions, the Regional Government and the Government.
The challenge of the Municipality’s participation in the “100 Climate Neutral and Smart Cities of Europe by 2030” can be the driving force for this transformation.
We have already undertaken important actions in this field:
- We pioneered the integrated waste management at the regional level
- We have been operating the District Heating System for 30 years
- We have developed a LoRa network for data transfer
- We operated 8 years ago the first pilot electromobility network in Greece, in collaboration with PPC
- We are implementing the first Virtual Net Metering project (PV power of 6 MW) that will cover all the electricity needs of the Municipality
For these reasons, we claim our participation in the European Mission of “100 Climate Neutral and Smart Cities by 2030”.
The teleconference was attended by the Mayors of the cities that intend to submit candidacy for the Mission, the Secretary General of Spatial Planning and Urban Environment, Bakoyannis Efthymios and officials of the Ministry of Energy, as well as the Deputy General Director for Mobility and Transport of the European Union and Ηead of the European Missions, Matthew Baldwin.
All participating Mayors agreed to sign a Memorandum of Cooperation for the transformation of their cities into Climate Neutral and Smart Cities by 2030, as part of the homonymous Mission of the European Union.
It is noted that this cooperation started on the initiative of the Mayor of Kozani, Lazaros Maloutas, in the summer of 2021.
