Global and local alliances for climate action
Members of the Greens in the CoR welcomed the adoption of the Resolution on the COP26 and global and local alliances for climate action during the 146th CoR plenary session, which took place on 12-14 October. They emphasised the importance of more ambitious climate policies and a more prominent role of local and regional authorities in shaping and implementing both EU and global climate actions.
Two weeks before the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, the European Committee of the Regions adopted a resolution, setting out its priorities and positions at COP26. EU local and regional leaders called on the UN and national governments to formally acknowledge, monitor and encourage the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by cities, local governments and regions worldwide.
The Greens member and representative at COP26, Marieke Schouten, stressed that ‘Local and regional authorities put climate action into practice on the ground. They are in the position to accelerate climate adaptation actions, by for example designing measures for greening public spaces and ensuring the measures are relevant to people living in vulnerable situations. Formally acknowledging and integrating LRAs and Regionally Determined Contributions in the global governance system would be a key step towards achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement and fully implementing the UN 2030 Agenda.’
The Greens actively participated in the preparation of the resolution, for example by tabling an amendment that highlights the role of renewable energy deployment as a prerequisite for successful climate protection. Moreover, a joint amendment tabled calls global and European actors to invest in gender-analysis and sex-disaggregated data to study the impact of climate change on vulnerable groups, to implement gender budgeting and to ensure equal access to representation in policy making for all genders.
All amendments supported by the Greens and the resolution as amended were adopted by a vast majority. The resolution will represent the position of the CoR in the COP26 summit taking place in Glasgow 31 October – 12 November.
The vote on the resolution was preceded by a debate with Virginijus Sinkevičius, EU Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, on raising ambition and stronger governance for a glocal Green Deal.
During the debate, Greens member Muhterem Aras highlighted that the consequences of climate change inaction are, in fact, much costlier than climate protection, urging LRAs to take action: ‘This year we have seen this clearly. Extreme weather conditions, floods and forest fires: They cost lives, destroy harvests and livelihoods. If we want to avoid such catastrophes and prevent whole regions from becoming inhabitable, we need to act urgently.’
In a similar spirit of action, Greens member Josef Frey invited fellow local and regional leaders to join the Under2 Coalition, a global network of 260 subnational governments representing 1.75 billion people and 50% of the global economy, whose members commit to keep the temperature rise below 1.5°C by 2030 and to reach net zero emissions by 2050 or earlier. ‘The more countries, regions, cities and businesses commit to such goals, the better our chances are for a real climate transformation’, he stated.
Schouten emphasised that achieving climate neutrality requires active cooperation between citizens, governments, research institutes and businesses. She pointed out that ’empathetic local leadership, connected with citizens and their concerns, and acknowledgement from the EU level are needed to accelerate climate actions.’