Climate Pact Ambassadors and DG CLIMA discuss possible
ways to improve citizen's engagement as well as areas
of collaboration in measures and practices towards the European Climate Pact.
The
Climate Pact Ambassadors of the European
Committee of the
Regions and the
Directorate General Climate Action of the
European Commission
debated on the first CoR Climate Ambassadors event
on the possibilities offered by the initiative
whose purpose is to get individuals, communities
and organisations involved in climate actions and
build a greener Europe. Climate Pact Ambassadors
play a key role in the CoR's actions for the
Climate Pact.
The event started with an introduction from Kartazyna Balucka-Debska from DG CLIMA
on the European Climate Pact where she said: "More than
90% of the Europeans see climate change as a serious
problem and support action to tackle it. However, it is
not always clear what action to take and how to
effectively contribute to overcoming the climate
crisis, either as an individual or as a local or
regional leader. This is the starting point of the
European Climate Pact. The role of cities and regions
is crucial in this regard, since they are the level of
government closest to the citizens and responsible of
implementing a substantial part of policies to achieve
a green and just transition."
The Ambassadors debated on how to improve citizen's
engagement in climate action as well as on the ways to
collaborate better on a regional and national level.
The acceptance and participation of the population in
climate action is a great challenge, according to Kata Tüttő,
Deputy-Mayor of Budapest, which can only be overcome
with a lot of time and patience. It is important to
involve all groups of the population and to develop an
understanding for the Climate Pact. Sophia Teles, Climate Pact Ambassador
in the Netherlands, stated that the
Climate Pact's Peer Parliaments, which are about people getting together to debate how
they want to see the transition to climate neutrality
working in practice, give a great opportunity to
identify the citizen's direct concerns when it comes to
climate action.
The European Commission has launched the Climate Pact
for which the European Committee of the Regions is
committed to actively contribute to, starting by
promoting its objectives and fostering participation,
in particular from local and regional authorities
across the EU. The Climate Pact is a participatory
platform in support of the
European Green Deal.
In order to be more efficient when it comes to climate
actions on a regional, national and European level, the
Climate Pact Ambassadors collectively agreed that
taking action together will enhance the awareness of
European citizens. Sharing regional and national
initiatives as well as more collaboration on climate
action is a crucial point to create an understanding of
the importance of the Climate Pact and EU Green Deal. Markku Markkula, Chair of the Espoo
City Board and President of the Helsinki Region,
emphasized that the lessons regional and local
authorities can learn from each other are crucial
measures to increasingly collaborate on the European
level.
Laurence Graff
and Kartazyna Balucka-Debska from the
DG Climate Action suggested to not only mobilise
further on a regional, national and European level, but
to also have sufficient critical support to increase
the engagement of citizens. The Peer Parliaments as
well as the collaboration of regional and local
authorities will inspire other regions to adopt similar
schemes. For 2022 the DG suggested to have common
pledges in order to have concrete solutions. The 38 CoR
Ambassadors for the Climate Pact are already included
in the broader network launched by the European
Commission, and some of them have already registered
their activities as satellite events. More importantly,
the creation of a guide of financial support available
from the EU side and the reinforcement of the Green
Deal Going Local online webpage and Map of commitments, which will be complemented with
relevant information from the constituency on the Green
Deal through a Survey, will be an important step. The
webpage is expected to become a knowledge hub,
providing a window on the main funding opportunities
and showcasing ongoing best practices.
Click here
for more background information on the CoR Climate Pact
Ambassadors event.
Contact:
David Crous /
David.Crous@cor.europa.eu
Theresa Sostmann /
Theresa.Sostmann@cor.europa.eu