“Following the adoption of a global agreement on climate at the United Nations COP 21 conference which recognizes the role of regions and cities, the time has come to properly integrate them in the global and EU climate governance structures and deliver results”, stressed the President of the Region of Sardinia today, recalling that cities and regions, who are responsible for more than 70% of climate change reduction measures and up to 90% of climate change adaptation measures, are key partners in reaching the ambitious climate change target agreed in Paris last December.
His opinion on Delivering the global climate agreement - a territorial approach to COP 22 in Marrakesh – put together in view of the 22nd Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC COP22) to be held in Marrakesh in November, received unanimous backing by members of the CoR commission for the Environment, Climate Change and Energy (ENVE). It provides a set of key recommendations covering good governance mechanisms and coordination of action, financing and capacity-building.
The ENVE President calls for better integration of regions and cities at the global level within the UNFCCC process, which would allow feedback from the ground to be channeled back to the UN in a timely manner, as well as a permanent and direct dialogue between all levels of government. This request was supported by MEP Jo Leinen, co-sponsor of the European Parliament's resolution on COP 22, who recognized the crucial role of local and regional governments and said he would take a number of CoR suggestions to the debates about the Parliament resolution.
In relation to the progress made at EU level, the CoR opinion welcomes the adoption of a roadmap for the implementation of the Paris Agreement in the EU and the extension and reinforcement of the EU Covenant of Mayors - which includes an adaptation component in addition to being expanded to cities beyond the EU- as well as the adoption of the EU's Urban agenda.
Moreover, based on the experience of his own region of Sardinia, Pigliaru underlines the role of regions as a 'coordinating' level for the activities of local authorities within member states and horizontally between them. ‘Coordinating is both cost-effective and inclusive, as it allows smaller cities with limited resources to maximise their potential for action’, he stressed. "At the same time, mainstreaming climate in all policies will allow local populations to enjoy many benefits such as higher quality of life and local jobs", he added.
Francesco Pigliaru also stressed the key issue of access of cities and regions to EU financial support for climate change measures. The rapporteur calls for simplified application procedures, and in particular for more support to develop the necessary administrative capacity of regions and cities, especially smaller ones. He underlined the crucial role of regions in aggregating smaller projects for low-carbon development and the need to develop innovative but easy to use financial instruments to stimulate synergies between public and private investments.
Finally, the opinion calls on Member States to abide by their commitment to phase out environmentally harmful subsidies, including those to fossil fuels.
