Tallinn mayor discusses implementation of Green Deal for cities in Brussels

TALLINN – Tallinn Mayor Mihhail Kolvart met with Patrick Child, deputy director general of the European Commission's Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, in Brussels on Tuesday to focus on the implementation of the European Green Deal for cities and related European initiatives.

According to Child, the objectives of the European Green Capital are much broader than the mission of climate-neutral cities.

"Thus, the European Green Capital will also include nature conservation, urban green spaces and biodiversity," he said. "Cities therefore have a very important role to play in the implementation of the European Green Deal, and Tallinn, as the European Green Capital 2023, will play an advocacy role."

Kolvart added that Tallinn’s goal is to be the representative of all green capitals of Europe during 2023.

"In the same way, we want to strengthen the work of the network of all green capitals and launch a centre of excellence for sustainable governance. Today's meeting was also a confirmation that our cooperation with the European Commission will be very close and meaningful," the mayor added. 

Tallinn's European Green Capital action plan for next year was also discussed, with support for green innovation as one of Tallinn's priorities, as well as the European CleanTech Forum and the Green Technologies EXPO to be held in Tallinn next November.