PROSPECT+ - Ambition
Cities are the main contributors to pollution and climate change, but they also have the power and opportunity to deliver the highest savings, provide a good example and drive the energy transition. Financing local authorities sustainable energy and climate projects is hindered primarily by a lack of internal capacity to identify the most appropriate and cost-effective financing instruments and implementation models.
The ambition of PROSPECT+ is to ensure that over 200 EU cities & regions in at least 20 European Member States will improve their capacities when it comes to financing and implementing their sustainable energy and climate plans (SECAPs) and similar sustainable plans, effectively accelerating reaching the climate and energy targets.
By participating in a PROSPECT+ programme where experienced local and regional authorities will share their experience through mentoring, participants will identify new financing schemes to interactively overcome or surpass their challenges in financing the implementation of their energy and climate plans. The participants will also have an opportunity to join a Community of Practice set up to facilitate further exchange of best practices and to contribute to the debate on the barriers local authorities face when it comes to implementing timely and optimal investments in sustainable energy and low-emission transport. The learning in PROSPECT+ will step-up what was learned through gathering feedback from over 150 public authorities and their respective agencies that took part in the learning programme in the previous project. The 5 learning topics will focus on innovative financing schemes for public buildings, private buildings, public lighting, transport, and cross-sectoral category, with more attention given to improving the decision making of cities on how to choose projects for financing, as well as how to assess and ensure that the projects are finance ready.