Climate and energy transition

The world’s largest climate stakeholders summit has just taken place in Nantes, France. Key non-state players from around the world, including CEMR, gathered to find concrete solutions to one of the most pressing issues of our time: climate change. Taking place just one month before the next great climate meeting, COP22; Climate Chance was both the opportunity to discuss how far we had come since COP21, and start laying out a common roadmap for COP22.

Here are the 5 main takeaways from the Climate Chance summit:

1. Adoption of the Nantes Declaration

The Nantes Declaration of climate actors has now been adopted: “Strengthening concrete action to bridge the gap between current commitments and the objectives of the Paris Agreement.” This declaration calls for access to targeted funding for towns and cities to fight climate change. The declaration states: “We call upon the implementation of mechanisms allowing local and regional governments […] to access new financing tools, such as the Green fund.”

2. Launch of the international coalition on the circular economy

In Nantes, we launched an international coalition on the circular economy. Its aim is twofold: to fight for the recognition of the circular economy as a key step in international climate policy; and to promote the exchanges of good practices and offer practical tools to help local stakeholders. The coalition is made up of 15 non-state players, including the European Environmental Bureau, UNEP, Veolia, Suez Environment, and the European Economic and Social Committee. The coalition was launched by CEMR together with ACR+ and OREE

3. Mobilising local governments worldwide through the Global Covenant of Mayors

The world’s two primary urban climate change initiatives, the Compact of Mayors and the EU Covenant of Mayors for Climate/Energy, have said yes to each other. They merged on 22 June into the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy and a secretariat will be in place as from 1 January 2017. This new union will combine powers and resources to act in 7000 cities and 119 countries worldwide, and will have the role of a coordinator for the UN. Its main goal: to strengthen cities at a time where international agreements affect all of our territories. “Without cities, states will not be able to meet their targets”, stated the Mayor of Seville, Juan Espadas, representing CEMR in Nantes.

4. Our session on the Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy: joining forces

Towns, cities, businesses and citizens joined around a session we organised on "Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy: community-based climate actions". This session’s concluding remarks were based on three main points. Firstly, crowdfunding for energy transition is not only better for cities' finances, it empowers citizens as well. Secondly, local governments have the responsibility to nudge citizens towards sustainable lifestyles. The last main conclusion is that it is not enough to just act, it is also crucial to be able to measure progress towards building resilient communities.

5. Recommandations on decentralised cooperation

PLATFORMA’s session resulted in a set of recommendations towards Habitat III and COP22. Did you know that in France, towns and regions can use up to 1% of their water and sanitation budget to finance international cooperation in the same field? PLATFORMA believes this system should be promoted everywhere. Another key recommendation is that decentralised cooperation should be systematically included within the Covenant of mayors in Sub-saharan Africa and the Global covenant of mayors.

6. The keys to finance the renovation of public buildings

You might be sitting in a building while reading this. Did you know that buildings are responsible for as much as 36% of CO2 emissions in the EU? Investing in energy efficiency in public buildings is an urgent matter. CITYnvest organised a workshop where it explained how to finance energy efficiency in public buildings in France.

What’s next?

7-18 November: COP22, the United Nations climate change conference in Marrakech (Morocco)

14 November: Summit of Local and Regional Leaders for Climate