Técnico has developed a useful tool for drawing up and monitoring the implementation of municipal Climate Action Plans, which is instrumental in transition strategies towards climate neutrality.

Designed to help Portuguese municipalities monitor greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, MEM+ (Municipal Emissions Monitoring) uses the Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories methodology. This protocol provides cities and local governments with a robust, transparent and globally accepted framework for consistently identifying, calculating and reporting cities’ greenhouse gas emissions. The tool developed by the Centre for Studies in Innovation, Technology and Development Policies (IN+) offers a robust, transparent and internationally accepted approach to calculating GHG emissions, allowing comparability between different territories and aiding decision-making to achieve climate goals.

The public presentation of MEM+ took place on 13 December, at an online event organised by Cities for Climate, which was attended by more than 120 participants.

During the event, Paulo Ferrão, Full Professor at Técnico, President of IN+ and Acting President of the Board of the European Mission ‘Climate Neutral and Smart Cities’, stressed that ‘European Union wants to be climate neutral by 2050’ and that ‘given that 70 per cent of GHGs are emitted by cities, the battle will be won by transforming cities’. Patrícia Baptista, Assistant Professor at Técnico and coordinator of IN+’s Laboratory of Industrial Ecology and Sustainability, highlighted the innovative dimension of MEM+ and its suitability to local needs, by bringing ’the possibility of comparison with other municipalities’.

Ricardo Rio, Mayor of Braga and Chairman of the General Assembly of Cities for Climate, underlined the importance of initiatives like this to mobilise Portuguese municipalities around a common goal: climate neutrality by 2030. ‘Cities play a fundamental role in realising these global goals’, he concluded.

Cities for Climate is a collaborative initiative that brings together cities and regions in Portugal, with the mission of accelerating the climate transition through co-operation between experts, local decision-makers, citizens and the scientific community, including Instituto Superior Técnico. IN+ is the technical secretariat of this network, supporting the actions and projects that are part of the transition to climate neutrality.

* This text was written in collaboration with the Centre for Studies in Innovation, Technology and Development Policies (IN+)