Connect with us

Climate change

 UN climate talks: Europe's regions and cities call on the EU to lead by showing true ambition pushing a 50% cut of greenhouse gas by 2050

SHARE:

Published

on

We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Kellogg-climate-change-policy-ahead-of-General-Mills-says-OxfamThe European Committee of the Regions (CoR) has set out its commitments for the UN climate talks in Paris in December later this year. Speaking during the World Climate Summit in Lyon, the chairman of the CoR's climate and energy commission, Francesco Pigliaru, said: "We need less talk and more real commitment. Finding an answer to the impact of climate change for our planet and people needs ambition, which is why the European Committee of the Regions has continued to call for the EU and its member states to set the bar high and cut greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2050."   

Representing the CoR in Lyon, an event which leaders hoped would set the scene for the crunch negotiations later this year, Francesco Pigliaru, president of the Italian region of Sardinia, welcomed the fact that, for first time, all stakeholders from regions and cities all over the world had agreed on a common declaration, which stressed local and regional governments' commitments towards creating a global strategy to tackle climate change. And these commitments surpass the usual ones.

 

Seventy per cent of climate change mitigation measures fall on the shoulders of local and regional authorities and climate change is always felt first in our communities. This is another small step that clearly recognizes the need for this UN COP 21 to go further. Regions and cities must be able to meet the negotiators to provide feedback gathered on the ground and help shape the shared global strategy to tackle climate change.

 

In the run-up to the 21st UN climate conference, active involvement and engagement with regions and cities is vital in order to produce a better climate agreement. However this dialogue must be fostered not only ahead of the climate talks, among EU institutions and national governments, but also during the negotiations. The CoR – the EU's assembly of local and regional authorities – therefore formally called for a day to be dedicated to regions and cities during the negotiations.

 

Advertisement

Annabelle Jaeger, CoR member and member of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regional Council, worked with her peers on 30 June to define this position with a view to the Summit. Some of her recommendations are:

 

  • Adopting a COP decision for a climate action plan for cities and regions
  • Going beyond the targets set by the European Union in October 2014, i.e. beyond 40% by 2030 as compared to 1990; the CoR recommends 50%
  • Granting cities and regions direct access to international climate funding
  • Asking the European Union to support a long-term global objective of 0% greenhouse gas emissions by 2050

 

More information

 

Latest ENVE Commission meeting

Share this article:

EU Reporter publishes articles from a variety of outside sources which express a wide range of viewpoints. The positions taken in these articles are not necessarily those of EU Reporter.

Trending