Porto shortlisted by the European Commission for the European Green Capital Awards 2028

European Green Capital Awards 2028: Porto reaches the final stage

Porto has been chosen by the European Commission as one of five cities through to the final phase of the European Green Capital Awards 2028, the Porto City Council announced on Tuesday.

According to the council’s website, when reviewing the applications submitted, an independent panel noted that "Porto scores highly across all areas of urban sustainability, particularly in water management and adaptation to climate change".

Other shortlisted cities alongside Porto

From the 17 original applications, four other cities remain in contention alongside Porto: Aalborg (Denmark), Bielsko-Biala (Poland), Kosice (Slovakia) and Zaragoza (Spain).

Why Porto stood out: water resilience, ecosystems and community engagement

The panel-quoted on the municipality’s website-said that "over the past decade, the city has strengthened resilience and urban water sustainability by modernising infrastructure, restoring ecosystems and actively engaging the community. Porto adopts a holistic vision to ensure that sustainability efforts reinforce each other".

Porto City Council response

In a statement, the vice-president of Porto City Council, Catarina Araújo, said they will continue working "to show that Porto is not only a city applying for a European award", but a municipality committed to a "just green transition, with better quality of life for everyone and with concrete responses to climate challenges".