City of Tallinn has been awarded the Green Capital of 2023 award by the European Commission. The jury highlighted City of Tallinn's holistic approach, free public transport, brownfield site conversion and green ambassadorship. One of the recognised initiatives is the new "Pollinator Highway" park which has converted almost 13 kilometers of unused space to urban meadows to encourage butterflies, bumblebees and honeybees and create more green space for residents. The highway runs from the city center to Stroomi Beach. Bike lanes will be added in the future and there are plans to extend the tramline through the park.
The European Commission said in a statement: "Tallinn impressed the international Jury with their systemic approach to green governance and interlinked strategic goals, which reflect the ambitions of the European Green Deal."
The core aims of the City of Tallinn are:
- improving the energy efficiency and indoor climate of buildings,
- reducing carbon emissions including by incentivizing people to travel by car less often,
- preserving and increasing biological diversity in the city,
- creating a circular economy.
The Mayor of Tallinn, Mihhail Kõlvart, quoted that: "For us, a green capital means that Tallinn is inviting, comfortable, and clean - a city of the future."
What is the European Green Capital?
The European Green Capital title recognizes the efforts of cities to preserve and improve an environment that supports both the living environment and the economy.The title is awarded to a city, with a population of more than 100,000 people, which has the ability to act as a role model in the field of sustainable urban development and citizen communication. The aim is to improve the urban environment in European cities, to promote and recognize the efforts that cities are making to improve the environment and the quality of life. The competition is judged on 12 qualities: air quality, noise, waste, water, nature and biodiversity, sustainable land use and soil, green growth and eco-innovation, climate change in mitigation, climate change in adaptation, sustainable urban mobility, energy performance and governance
Previous winners have been: Stockholm, Sweden (2010), Hamburg, Germany (2011), Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain (2012), Nantes, France (2013), Copenhagen, Denmark (2014), Brisol, UK (2015), Ljubljana, Slovenia (2016), Essen, Germany (2017), Nijmegen, The Netherlands (2018), Oslo, Norway (2019), Lisbon (2020) and Lahti, Finland (2021).