30-06-2009

The session ‘Mobilising Local Authorities’, organised in the context of the LG Action project, highlighted the urgent need for local climate action and the key role local governments can play, at the climate protection themed Green Week 2009. 

More than 150 participants and experts attended the session which took place in Brussels on 23 June, and the message was resoundingly clear. Local Governments (LGs) must act. The Vice President of the Committee of the Regions (CoR), Mr Michel Delebarre, emphasised that the current  negative effects of the financial crisis mirror only a fraction of what will happen when the growing impact of climate change is seen at the local level. LGs are “in the frontline”, and need to be provided with the resources and capacity from national government to act. 

Panellist and Head of the Air and Climate Change Programme, European Environment Agency, Mr Jeff Huntington, emphasised that the impacts of climate change are getting serious. “Action is required now…but there will be no solution to global warming without the involvement of local governments.” Fellow panellist Mr Ron de Graaf, Dutch Environmental Ministry added that, “each city has its own needs due to a local context, but at the same time also a particular potential to make fast action happen. Therefore a bottom-up approach must be stimulated, as top-down decisions would not be effective enough.”

The session cemented the message delivered at the Local Government Climate Change Leadership Summit in Copenhagen (Denmark), held in early June, when local leaders made a call for action, inclusion and recognition of the role of local and regional governments in national climate strategies and plans. This session in Brussels featured a presentation of developments in the Local Government Climate Roadmap (www.iclei.org/climate-roadmap), followed by a high-level panel discussion and an intense exchange with the audience.

LG Action – a project that provides a voice for European Local Governments
In Europe there are more than 100.000 LGs. Their voices have been largely neglectedin the international climate debate and the negotiation of a post-2012 agreement, as they are not a formal partner in the process. However, LGs play a vital role in implementing local measures on climate mitigation and adaptation. The project ‘LG Action’ – “Networking action to involve Local Governments in the EU and international energy and climate debate”, helps to facilitate a strong voice for European LGs in this regard. Coordinated by the European Secretariat of ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI), it includes partners: Local Government Denmark (LGDK); Association of Cities and Regions for Recycling sustainable Resource management (ACR+); The Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC); and Coordinamento Agende 21 Locali Italiane (CA21L).

These organisations work in close cooperation with many other European and national LG associations and networks - to inform, mobilise and listen to LGs (www.lg-action.eu). The project is supported by the Intelligent Energy Europe programme.

For more information, please contact Carsten Rothballer, Climate Policy Officer at ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, European Secretariat.