The European Environment Agency (EEA) has published a report on 'Urban sustainability in Europe - Post-pandemic drivers of environmental transitions'. The report was released on 12 October 2022 and finds that the COVID-19 pandemic has had wide-ranging impacts on cities and may influence the transition to more environmentally sustainable cities for years to come. Added to the pandemic are other pressing crises, including new, urgent European Union policies to tackle climate change and environmental degradation and the impacts of the war in Ukraine. These, along with the energy crisis, are contributing to accelerated action but also present new challenges to ensure ambitious urban sustainability targets stay on track.

The report is an update on a previous EEA report on urban sustainability and is linked to a series of studies published in 2020-2021. It seeks to compare the experiences of cities immediately before the pandemic and as they emerge from it and to assess whether there are areas where the pandemic has already led to changes in key drivers of change as well as barriers, too. Research for the report included surveys and interviews involving 64 cities across Europe.

Among the key lessons outlined in the report, the study found that the pandemic highlighted social inequalities and the need that any shift to sustainability does not leave anyone behind. Cities will need to ensure new green policies do not further alienate certain social groups. The report highlights that transitions will need to be tailored to individual cities and their unique qualities and circumstances.

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