Cities also control powerful economic levers. Strategic supply can shape markets, lead to the adoption of own technologies and support small and medium -sized local businesses (SMEs). For example, Oslo obliges zero-emission construction in public projects and five years later, 77% of municipal construction sites are without emissions, an excellent example of purchase of industry changes. With direct access to rationalized EU financing and instruments, cities can go further and faster, creating a clean demand for innovation and built prosperous local savings from zero.
However, today, only 13% of the world workforce is ready for these future careers, and Europe faces shortages of urgent skills in high sectors. Cities are ideally placed to fill this gap. Madrid and London, for example, are already renovation workers, heat pumps and renewable energies. Paris rationalizes the recording of companies to support start-ups, while Lisbon offers free ESG training to SMEs, ensuring that they respect developing climatic standards. But this requires serious investments in the EU level and a real collaboration. Without structured EU-City collaboration, industrial policies are likely to be disconnected from economic realities and the needs of labor.
A fair transition also means ensuring that new green jobs are of high quality, inclusive and secure. The green economy has the potential to create 30% more jobs compared to a commercial approach as usual, but only if inclusion and equity are built from the start, these jobs will go to those who need it most. Cities, in partnership with unions, businesses and workers, can ensure that industrial changes are reflected in widespread employment opportunities, in particular for marginalized communities. Projects such as “Boss Ladies” in Copenhagen defend the inclusion of women in the building sector.
A clean industrial agreement that excludes cities will fail. Whoever recognizes them as co -creators – alongside companies, unions and communities – can build urgency in industrial, climate and social Europe in Europe in times of crisis. Cities must be complete partners, with direct access to tools, financing and political frameworks necessary to stimulate this transition.
To translate the ambition into action, the proper industrial agreement must include clear national executives for sustainable investment, early commercial engagement and market modification tools such as subsidies, innovation centers and supply. With solid public-private partnerships and targeted investments in cities, we can create conditions for green jobs, resilient industries and lower energy bills.
This unpredictable decade has presented a unique opportunity for Europe to create a future that works for everyone. The European’s own industrial strategy must prioritize innovation led by the city, invest in the transformation of the workforce and deliver to those who feel most left behind. This is how Europe can regain world leadership – not by withdrawing, but proving how climate action can be the safest way to economic resilience, energy independence and shared prosperity.
Politices
