To bring attention to the green budgeting at local and regional levels as a way to achieve climate neutrality by 2050
To suggest a better definition and a stardard methodolgy, based on the work of the OECD and the European Commission, while allowing the needed flexibility to adapt to the different territorial realities.
To explore new sources of financement, in the fiscal framework or through innovative actions like the green bonds.
To stress the need for monitoring the green budgets and to disseminate them among citizens to promote efficiency, accountability, and transparency of policies regarding climate and environmental action.
To acknowledge that green budgets are powerful economic tools for transforming societies and economies and improving equality.
THE EUROPEAN COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS
- highlights the importance of green budgeting for achieving climate neutrality by 2050 and of the international climate commitments to assess the green impact of funding, which are aimed at transforming our way of living (in particular the energy, housing, transport and food systems), and to respect just and inclusive aspects of the transitions;
- calls on the European Commission and the Member States to support the strong involvement of regions and cities in assessing whether budget items align with climate and environmental objectives, and in providing harmonised definitions, classifications and guidelines on how to apply them to specific actions;
- calls on the European Commission and the Member States to exempt "green" investment from the regional public deficit calculation and from the debt limit "golden rules", thus increasing green investment in order to achieve the EU's ambitious targets and to cut CO2 emissions;
- believes that green budgeting developed at local and regional level should focus on expenditure and revenue measures, and in particular on monitoring budgetary documents with expenditure allocations;
- invites the European Commission at the same time to reconsider going beyond a methodology framework on green budgeting, including a proposal for a legal framework;
calls on the European Commission and the Member States to enlarge access to technical support initiatives for green budgeting, which are currently mostly available at national level; stands in that regard ready to introduce, in cooperation with the European Commission, the OECD, the I4CE and other relevant actors, obligatory training on green budgeting for CoR members, as a first step towards raising awareness and transmitting relevant know how on the application of this budgeting approach.