Cork City wins European Award for its Local Green Deals

Cork City has received a prestigious award for its wide ranging sustainability projects, Local Green Deals, at an awards ceremony in Brussels.

Over 60 cities participated in the EU Intelligent Cities Challenge over the last two years which aims to advance the green transition in Europe by establishing partnerships at a local level. 

Deputy Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr Oliver Moran, accepted the award yesterday (Thursday, March 6) for the “highest number of local green deals (LGDs) of a consistently high quality”.

Lord Mayor Cllr Dan Boyle said: “The city is using the Local Green Deal process to support its participation in the Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities Mission. This award is another important milestone on our journey. I would like to thank Cork Chamber for its assistance and the many other organisations who have made commitments. The fact that the award recognises not just the quantity but also the quality of the partnerships is particularly satisfying”.

Cork City Council signed 12 deals with a range of private, community and voluntary organisations in the city. The LGDs agreed range from building retrofits, installation of rooftop solar PV panels, waste management and community education programmes. The deals include Boston Scientific decarbonising their plant to Sunday’s Well Rugby club installing solar PV panels and creating a green wall. Others included a toy library social enterprise aiming at reducing plastic waste by supporting people to freely share toys within their neighbourhood and the installation of solar PV by Ballyphehane Community Association.

You can read more here about our recent Local Green Deal signatories. 

Valerie O’ Sullivan, Chief Executive of Cork City Council said: “I would like to particularly thank all the businesses and community groups who contributed to the city achieving this prestigious award. Their commitment shows that a wide variety of organisations want to play their part in achieving the city’s sustainability’s goals. This award is due recognition of the hard work of the City Council and its partners in this regard”.

Cork City Council supports range from providing funding to the community, voluntary and sporting groups, to providing technical assistance such as consultancy services for Small to Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) and advisor-based assistance from its Climate Action Unit. Across all organisations, Cork City Council will be promoting the organisations efforts and projects with a view to increasing similar efforts and awareness around further LGDs in future.

Conor Healy, CEO of Cork Chamber said: "At Cork Chamber, we are proud to see Cork City Council being recognised for its leadership in securing an impressive number of Local Green Deals and we are delighted to have enabled and assisted some members to engage with the Local Green Deals process while also delivering our own. This achievement reflects a shared ambition across the city to drive meaningful progress on sustainability. At Cork Chamber, we have seen first-hand the impact of collective action, through our own sustainability initiatives as well as through the growing commitment of businesses to local climate goals. This award highlights the power of collaboration in building a greener, more resilient city region. With businesses, government and the wider community work together, we can make Cork a model for sustainable growth and innovation”.

Cork City Council adopted its Local Authority Climate Action Plan in early 2024 and the LGDs complement several objectives of the plan across natural environment and resource management, transport and mobility, communities and partnerships and built environment and energy.