Effective climate policy starts at the community level. This is where people experience the impacts of climate change in their daily lives — from heatwaves and more frequent floods to droughts and increase in costs for cooling buildings in the summer. To ensure effectiveness, climate solutions must be developed not only at the national level but also with the active involvement of local communities.
Engaging residents helps build a better understanding of climate challenges, raises awareness, and supports the development of solutions that respond to the real needs of each community. At the same time, cooperation between citizens, local authorities, and civil society organisations creates the conditions for the systematic implementation of measures that strengthen resilience and support the transition to climate neutrality.
Ecoaction’s climate team supports communities in building their capacity in strategic planning, participation, partnership development, and access to financing — enabling them to effectively and consistently:
- reduce greenhouse gas emissions (for example, through energy efficiency measures, transition to renewable energy, and development of sustainable mobility);
- rebuild after russian attacks based on climate neutrality principles;
- plan and transform urban infrastructure and public spaces by integrating climate adaptation measures;
- raise awareness among residents and enable their participation in strengthening climate resilience;
- support local green initiatives and businesses.
A key project aimed at delivering these positive changes is SUN4Ukraine — the Sustainable Urban Net Zero Network for Ukraine. It is a four-year initiative launched in May 2024 to support Ukrainian municipalities in planning and achieving climate neutrality by 2050.
The project brings together 12 communities from across Ukraine: Chernihiv, Chernivtsi, Dnipro, Kalush, Kharkiv, Konotop, Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Novovolynsk, Pervomaisk, Vinnytsia, and Zviahel. They serve as flagship municipalities of the SUN4Ukraine network, with their experience and knowledge to be shared across other Ukrainian communities.
The SUN4Ukraine project is implemented within the framework of the EU Mission Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities. It primarily focuses on providing technical support to municipalities in developing Climate Neutrality Plans, delivering capacity-building programmes, and facilitating partnerships with European cities participating in the EU Mission for knowledge exchange.