Since becoming Mayor of Ghent, Mathias De Clercq has been guiding the city towards a climate-neutral and climate-resilient future by placing sustainability, affordability and social inclusion at the heart of local action. A long-standing signatory of the EU Covenant of Mayors, Ghent has demonstrated that urban growth and decarbonisation can go hand in hand, reducing emissions while improving residents’ quality of life through greener neighbourhoods, sustainable mobility and energy transition.
As a new member of the EU Covenant of Mayors Board, he brings the perspective of a pioneering city focused on the next phase of climate action: moving from ambitious strategies to accelerated implementation while ensuring a fair transition for all.
In this interview, Mayor De Clercq shares how Ghent is combining industrial transformation, sustainable heating solutions and inclusive climate policies to turn climate ambition into tangible improvements for citizens’ everyday lives. Read the full interview now to find out more.
What are your top priorities as Mayor, and how do they align with your city’s long-term vision for sustainability and climate resilience?
My priorities are affordable housing, a healthy and sustainable living environment and an inclusive city, and they are inseparable from our climate ambition. Ghent aims to be climate-neutral and climate-resilient by 2050. Our focus is on turning ambition into action by concentrating on the areas where local governments can make the greatest difference: accelerating housing renovation, developing sustainable heat solutions, promoting sustainable mobility, and expanding greening and de-paving across the city.
We see climate action first and foremost as a quality-of-life project. Cleaner air, less noise, cooler neighbourhoods, lower energy bills and healthier public spaces benefit everyone. Climate neutrality and social justice must go hand in hand: we want every citizen, not just those who can afford it, to benefit from the transition.
A park in the centre of Ghent that was created on a site previously covered by 1,400 m² of concrete and asphalt. Martin Corlazzoli © City of Ghent
Can you share the most exciting or transformative project currently underway in your city that contributes to the EU Covenant of Mayors’ targets? What makes this project stand out?
The transformation of North Sea Port, alongside Ghent’s city-wide heat transition is one of the most exciting developments underway today.
An industrial area in the north of Ghent that is investing in renewable energy through initiatives such as solar panels and wind turbines. Maarten Boes © City of Ghent
We are simultaneously tackling two major challenges of climate neutrality: decarbonising industry and providing affordable, sustainable heating solutions for residents. In the port area, we are working with industry on electrification, hydrogen infrastructure and circular solutions. Across the city, we are accelerating the shift away from fossil heating through district heating networks based on local renewable sources, including heat recovery from wastewater, as well as dedicated programmes supporting the deployment of heat pumps in apartment buildings.
A pilot project at the Watersportbaan illustrates this approach in practice, using recovered heat to supply a hospital, university facilities, a swimming pool and social housing. What makes this transition particularly remarkable is the combination of scale and inclusiveness: industrial transformation, public facilities and social housing tenants are all advancing together towards climate neutrality.
As a new member of the EU Covenant of Mayors Board, what unique perspective or initiative do you hope to bring? And what do you hope to learn from your fellow mayors?
Ghent has been committed to the Covenant of Mayors since its early days. Over the past two decades, we have reduced our emissions by around 30% while continuing to grow as a city, demonstrating that development and decarbonisation can go hand in hand.
The perspective I hope to bring to the Board is that of the "next phase" of climate action: moving from planning to accelerated delivery. Cities across Europe have made significant progress in setting targets and developing strategies. The challenge now is implementation at the scale and speed required to meet our climate objectives. We need to roughly double our historical pace of emissions reduction if we are to stay on track towards climate neutrality.
At the same time, the social dimension of the transition is becoming increasingly important. Instruments such as ETS2 will affect households more directly, making it even more essential to ensure that climate action remains fair and inclusive. I want to help keep the socially just transition high on the agenda: how do we accelerate emissions reductions while protecting vulnerable households and maintaining public support?
As President of Eurocities, I have the opportunity to exchange daily with cities across Europe and see that many of us are facing similar challenges. Through the Covenant Board, I look forward to sharing experiences and learning from fellow mayors and regional leaders about how they sustain public engagement and trust in an increasingly polarised world. Ultimately, cities are where the transition becomes tangible in people's everyday lives. Keeping citizens on board is therefore one of the key conditions for a successful climate transition.
What makes you proudest about your city—particularly in terms of its commitment to sustainability and improving residents’ quality of life?
What makes me proudest is that Ghent combines the spirit of a pioneer with the determination to deliver. We do not stop at setting ambitious goals, we work hard to turn them into tangible improvements in people's daily lives.
We treat climate policy as urban quality policy. This means creating more green and blue space in dense 19th-century neighbourhoods, helping residents renovate their homes through our One Stop Shop, transforming Belgium’s oldest district heating network into a fossil-free system, and working with North Sea Port on one of Europe’s most ambitious industrial transitions.
I am also proud of how we achieve these results. Climate action in Ghent is built on collaboration. Citizens, businesses, the university, knowledge institutions and the local government all contribute to shaping the transition. Bringing these different actors together around shared ambitions is one of our greatest strengths.
From left to right - Huis+ (Home+) is the one-stop shop for all questions related to home renovation and energy efficiency in Ghent. Rosan Steenbrugge © City of Ghent / Planten met Buren (Planting with Neighbours) is an initiative that helps residents green their homes and streets with support from the City of Ghent. Christophe Vander Eecken © City of Ghent
Beyond your official duties, how do you personally connect with your city’s people and culture? Are there any local traditions or hidden gems you would recommend to visitors?
I would definitely recommend our Ghent Festivities, the largest free cultural festival in Europe, attracting more than one million visitors every year. For ten days, we celebrate across our city squares, hosting over 5,000 cultural activities. In recent years, we’ve taken major steps to make the festival more sustainable: all squares now use reusable cups, we aim to reduce waste as much as possible, we work to limit noise disturbance, and we are strongly committed to ensuring accessibility for everyone.
Details
- Publication date
- 12 July 2026