ManagEnergy Expert Mission #3: supporting building renovation for low-income households

The city of Lisbon is considering setting up a Climate Action Fund to support building renovation, especially for low-income households in condominiums. 

The primary focus of the ManagEnergy Expert Mission, organised on 7-9 November 2023, was to support the Lisbon Energy and Environment Agency (Lisboa E-Nova) in concretising key aspects of this programme in close collaboration with key stakeholders.

Identifying the gap

In the morning of the first day, a meeting with the Technical and Financial Director of Lisboa E-Nova and key staff involved in the programme was held.

The main focus was the pre-conditions for the new fund, including: what are the needs, which programmes for renovation already exist, what could be an intervention logic for the programme etc.

Discussions revealed an “investment gap” – low-income households are typically not able to participate in national programmes due to their inability to pre-finance the investment until the receipt of the programme funding.

These discussions formed the basis of the first stakeholder meeting that was held in the afternoon.

Feedback from stakeholders

The stakeholders meeting was attended by high-level participants from different city departments (urbanism; environment, climate and energy; housing; finance). The debate focused on the orientation and main goals of the programme.

On Day 2 of the visit, the morning was devoted to a second working session with the agency staff on further defining key aspects of the planned programme and an exchange on other agency activities.

In the afternoon, a second stakeholder meeting was held with key stakeholders from the sustainable energy area to capture their insights into the programme development. Stakeholders involved included the national energy agency (ADENE), a consultant of the National Environmental Fund, an energy cooperative, a neighbourhood association and the condominiums management professional association.

Ready for action

On Day 3, all the findings and insights of the two previous days were reviewed and jointly summarised in a document (“programme concept note”) that addresses the following topics: programme objective, key target groups, programme delivery, investment measures, governance model, timetable and next steps. This will allow the host energy agency to take action immediately.