Analysing European cities’ climate mission development priorities through their monitoring and learning effort

Abstract The Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities Mission is a new initiative aimed at promoting sustainable development across European cities. Supported by the Climate Mission, these cities are tackling climate change by developing and adopting sustainable strategies that also benefit residents. Using data from 112 cities participating in the EU-funded NetZeroCities Mission project, this analysis examines indicators chosen by cities to track urban progress and impacts beyond greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, particularly focusing on Sustainable Development Goal 11 (SDG11). Additionally, this study provides a scientific perspective by introducing a hybrid AI-assisted method for clustering both standard NetZeroCities framework indicators and unique indicators introduced by cities. This approach reflects established impact assessment practices and incorporates cities’ extensive experience with climate monitoring. By grouping these different types of indicators, the research evaluates whether local monitoring efforts align with or diverge from NetZeroCities Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) framework priorities and explores what these differences might reveal about how cities put climate measures into practice locally.