The First Vice-president of the European Committee of the Regions Markku Markkula, said: "
Now is the time to show here in New York and later at COP25 in
Chile, that local and regional governments in Europe are serious
and committed to climate action. That we are united and act
together, between member states and within each of them, across all
government levels and involving citizens, to achieve climate
neutrality."
Vice-president Markku Markkula recalled that climate neutrality will
not be achieved nor global warming reversed without cities and regions.
VP Markkula stressed the need to formalise the role of local and
regional authorities within the Paris Agreement through a multi-level
system that integrates
local and regional contributions to national climate plans.
Juan
Espadas
(ES/PES), Mayor of Seville, said: "
This is a very important week for the fight against climate change
at the global level. More than political statements, this week is
about action plans, instruments and financial means to deliver
change. As president of the Spanish Network of Cities for Climate,
our presence in New York demonstrates our commitment and our
contribution to reversing global warming through climate and energy
action plans at the local level."
The Mayor of Lisbon, Fernando Medina (PT/PES), stated:
"We are seeing every day the challenges of climate change. One of
our priorities is SDG 13 - that is the urgent call for climate
action. In Lisbon, European Green Capital 2020, we are acting
strongly on mobility with improvements on the public transport
system, on nature-based solutions like the green infrastructure and
on energy efficiency using LEDs in traffic lights and solar panels
in municipal buildings. We need to act now and together."
The Mayor of Manheim, Peter Kurz (DE/PES), highlighted that
"the SDG Summit is a great opportunity to give further impulse to
our sustainable development. We, Europeans, have to make
considerable progress in this area if we want to maintain our
prosperity and conserve our natural resource. A comprehensive
sustainability policy, taking into account social cohesion,
economic development and the fight against poverty is of key
importance."
Kata Tűttö
(HU/PES),
member
of the Local Government of District 12 in Budapest, said: "
Hundreds of thousands of our children are climate striking on the
streets this week all across the world shouting that we are careless
about their future. They demand us to act now. Cities can make a
change and boost the transition so I call all local politicians to
join the fight!"
Andre
Viola
(FR/PES), President of the Aude Departmental Council, declared: "
The SDGs are not confined to the environmental and climate
dimensions alone. It is a global agenda to "leave no one behind".
As we have common challenges, we must also look for shared
solutions. The recognition of the "localisation of the SDGs" has
acknowledged the key role local and regional governments play in
this field. From the Aude De
partmental Council we have oriented all our public policies towards
reaching the SDGs as the first step to localise enshrine them
locally."
Anders
Knape
(SE/EPP), Member of Karlstad Municipal Council and President of the Congress of
Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, said:
"A more gender-equal society is a prerequisite for the achievement
of the Agenda 2030 targets. It is important that gender equality
(goal 5) is integrated in the implementation of the other 16
Sustainable Development Goals."
This was his message in a meeting with Åsa Regner, Deputy Director of
UN Women in New York.
At the latest ENVE meeting, Cor Lamers (NL/PES), Chair of the ENVE Commission
and Mayor of Schiedam, said: "We should put climate at the centre of our policies. We need to
work together at all levels on different transitions: energy,
mobility, food etc. And we need to take our citizens on board in
implementing those changes."
Additional CoR members present in New York include Raffaele Cattaneo (IT/EPP), Member of the
Lombardy Regional Government and Francois Decoster (FR/RE), Mayor of
Saint Omer.
Amongst other activities, members presented their SDGs acceleration
actions at the
Local and Regional Governments Forum on SDGs.
Last June, the
CoR adopted an opinion of
Michele Emiliano (IT/PES), President of the Puglia region, gathering a set of recommendations
for Europe to reach climate neutrality by 2050.
Background information
Read here
the 'Top 5 takeaways for cities and regions from the UN Climate
Action Summit' (by ICLEI).
Read here
President Karl-Heinz Lambertz editorial on climate (published 23
September 2019).
Europe will not reach climate neutrality by 2050 without its
cities and regions.
This year's
European Week of Regions and Cities
(7-10 October) includes more than fifty events related to the energy
transition, the fight against climate change, biodiversity and circular
economy.
Check the programme here.
Click here
to access the agenda of the next plenary session of the European
Committee of the Regions (8-9 October).
Read here
the latest news from the ENVE commission.
Contact:
david.crous@cor.europa.eu
/ +32 (0) 470 88 10 37