In today’s urgent context of adapting to climate change and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, municipalities play a crucial role in defining and implementing effective local environmental and climate action policies.

Under the Climate Framework Law, local authorities are tasked with developing Municipal Climate Action Plans. These plans must set concrete targets for cutting carbon emissions, strengthening resilience to climate impacts – such as heatwaves, water scarcity, and flooding – and engaging citizens, businesses, and other local stakeholders, both public and private, in the shared goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.

To support municipalities in this effort, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation has funded a project led by the consultancy Get2C, which includes the development of three interconnected online platforms. These tools are designed to facilitate and encourage the definition and submission of local decarbonisation targets.

The project has two main objectives: to accelerate municipal efforts in both climate adaptation and mitigation, particularly across the energy and transport sectors, by setting short-, medium- and long-term goals; and to promote transparency by publishing each municipality’s commitments, progress, and results, including how they align with national targets and compare with other municipalities.

The project’s entry point provides general information, showcases indicators from submitted commitments, and gives access to both the emissions calculation tool and the submission platform.

So far, the municipalities of Azambuja, Cascais, and Torres Vedras have each submitted one or more sectoral emissions reduction commitments.