Climate and energy transition

"Think global, act local to tackle climate change", this was in substance the main message of the executive president of the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR), Oldrich Vlasak, at CEMR's seminar on climate change, in Brussels, on 31 January 2007.

 

The seminar "Save energy, save money, save the climate" aimed to see what local and regional authorities are already doing to mitigate climate change and adapt to it. It also intended to improve the cooperation between all levels of governance in effectively implementing adaptation policies.

 

The sustainable development motto 'Think global, act local" is particularly relevant to climate change, underlined Oldrich Vlasak. Climate change affects primarily local and regional government. A careful balance must be struck among the interests of the different levels of government in order to create the best synergies and framework to mitigate climate change and adapt to it. Many local and regional authorities have started to develop bold measures to contribute to the fight against climate change, he added.

 

Such measures and practices were then presented by elected representatives from leading European cities, such as integrated planning in the province of Groningen, action plans for local authorities in the UK, local assessment and mitigation strategies in Vienna, Munich, Helsinki, Nantes, Frankfurt, Cork, Tallinn and Pontedera.

 

The morning session, dedicated to the ways local governments can tackle climate change, was chaired by Pim Koegler, chair of CEMR network on energy issues. In the afternoon, Alison Hay, Scottish councillor and member of CEMR Environment working group, chaired a round table on EU policies. The topic of the discussion was: how to establish effective cooperation between all levels of governance in implementing mitigation and adaptation policies?

 

Matti Vainio from the European Commission presented the new EU energy strategy and shared his thoughts on subsidiarity in climate change and energy policies. Satu Hassi, Member of the European Parliament, called for more ambitious EU targets on renewable energy.

 

Delegates called on the European Commission to help local and regional authorities deliver on climate change and sustainable energy policies. Alison Hay notably called for the right EU regulatory framework and the right financial incentives to "climate-proof" its own policies.

 

Some 120 delegates attended the seminar. The event was organised under the umbrella of the EU Sustainable Energy Week.

 

CEMR's publication "Save energy, save the climate, save money - A guide for local and regional authorities"

 

- Presentation Edgar Hauer

- Presentation Hannu Penttilä

- Presentation Ian Mearns

- Presentation Jannie Visscher

- Presentation Joachim Lorenz

- Presentation Matti Vainio