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Devolution has freed the Scottish government to come up with innovative publicly funded energy-saving schemes. Whitehall should take note of their success according to Andrew Warren, chairman of the British Energy Efficiency Federation, writing in the July/August issue of Energy in Buildings & Industry.
Climate actions have often fallen into one of two strategies: mitigation efforts to lower or remove greenhouse gas emissions from the atmosphere, and adaptation efforts to adjust systems and societies to withstand the impacts of climate…
African cities have an imbalance. Around half of the population walks, bicycles or takes public transport to get around, usually under unsafe and difficult conditions. But despite this unusually high level…
As Ukraine promises to strengthen its climate action plan, moves by cities to go green are showing the way, experts say
Fossil fuel-dependent Ukraine will strengthen its climate change action plan under the Paris Agreement to curb global warming, its government said at U.N. climate talks in Poland this week.
Four Ukrainian cities also reaffirmed their goal of shifting to 100 percent renewable energy by 2050, announced this year.
Le manque de moyens financiers mis en avant
Plus d'un tiers des maires (33,9%) invoquent le manque de moyens financiers pour assumer leur fonction et 14,8% le manque de personnel. "De manière plus alarmante", 36% des maires expliquent avoir "de plus en plus de difficultés à satisfaire les demandes de leurs administrés". Le lien entre l'élu et la population est ainsi de plus en plus perçu "comme une relation entre citoyen 'contribuable' et maire 'fournisseur de services'".
Nombre de maires expriment enfin leur sentiment d'être dépossédés de leur capacité d'action au sein des intercommunalités. Quelque 20% des 35 357 maires ont répondu au moins partiellement à un questionnaire qui leur a été adressé pour cette enquête.
The political backdrop of the present analysis is provided by the Committee of the Regions (CoR) proposal of a Code of conduct for the involvement of the local and regional authorities in the European Semester and by the territorial analyses of the 2018 Country Reports based on Country-specific Recommendations (CSR). As a word of caution, it is important to note that the following analysis describes how the National Reform Programme (NRP) reports on the role and involvement of the Local and Regional Authorities (LRAs). It might be the case that the actual involvement of the LRAs in the preparation and implementation of NRP is not stated in the documents. The analysis followed a comparative approach between the current situation and the preceding years (from 2011 onwards, with a special focus on 2015 onwards). A major point is evident: political administrative systems do not change quickly - these systems rather evolve than change all of a sudden. Given this ‘inertia’ of the systems, one can expect that major findings in many analytical dimensions do not change or vary much over time.
Far from being an isolated phenomenon, political change seen today in Poland is a symptom of broader trends. All over the world, voters in large cities oppose authoritarian populist parties and initiatives. And, all over the world, they are nowadays more and more likely to be defeated. Has urban politics played its part in bringing about the authoritarian populist wave? What part can it have in bringing it down?
People feel distanced and frustrated with EU politics and institutions–often perceived as too remote and untrustworthy–and place greater trust in their local authorities.
The findings, which will be adopted this month by the Committee of the Regions, were delivered in Brussels, at the European Week of Regions and Cities, after a two-year engagement campaign called Reflecting on Europe.
“Our municipalities, cities and regions, and their elected representatives are a factor for trust and stability for the union at a time when divergences and antagonisms are growing at national and European level,” said Karl-Heinz Lambertz, President of the Committee of the Regions (CoR) during his State of the Union: the View of Cities and Regions speech.
The campaign contacted more than 40,000 citizens and 110 local and regional authorities through town hall debates, and an EU-wide online survey, along with a consultation of cities and regions.
A German town with little more than 150,000 residents, Heidelberg is rubbing shoulders with the likes of New York, London and Sydney when it comes to achieving carbon reductions through policies including the development of an entire environmentally-friendly district
Over the coming months, the international municipalist movement will publish a global map, a book in four languages, and hold decentralized Fearless Cities summits around the world.
Human-induced climate change will challenge the solidarity between peoples that forms the basis of the European Union. Today, solidarity is under pressure from nationalist and populist movements that may prevent urgently needed action on climate change. Populists threaten the recognition of global scientific knowledge and undermine the potential for sustainability-driven modernisation vital for continued economic and social progress. Mission 2020 is a global initiative urging for rapid emissions reductions. Through taking up Mission 2020’s call for a just transformation, the European Union can renew itself and expand its purpose.
El Ayuntamiento de Madrid ha ganado una batalla clave contra las grandes eléctricas en la guerra que libran por el megacontrato para todos los suministros eléctricos dependientes del municipio más grande de España. Una adjudicación que supera los 82 millones de euros por dar este servicio los próximos dos años.
Academics criticise lack of long-term supplier contracts in plan but also highlight the limits of what can be achieved under devolution
A REPORT setting out the options for the Scottish Government’s proposed publicly owned, not-for-profit energy company published on Monday has been met with criticism from academic energy experts.
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Le plan de relance français va être la priorité des semaines à venir. De l’explosion de la pauvreté à la faillite des entreprises en passant par la rénovation énergétique des bâtiments, il devra répondre à cinq défis majeurs, cinq priorités de 2021. Une année clé qui mettra la France sur les rails de 2030.
A decentralised wind power revolution is already happening in Denmark and Scotland, where community ownership is delivering power to the people.
In a world in which fear and insecurity are being twisted into hate, and inequalities, xenophobia and authoritarianism are on the rise, a renewed municipalist movement is emerging to defend human rights, democracy and the common good.
Fearless Cities is the first book written by and for the global municipalist movement. Written collaboratively by more than 140 people from 19 countries, the Fearless Cities guide is made up of four parts:
- Essays explaining municipalism and its role in tackling the challenges of our time.
- Organizing toolkits about how to set up a municipalist platform, draw up a participatory manifesto to how to crowdsource funding and win elections.
- Policy toolkits with examples of transformative policies being implemented in towns and cities across the world.
- Profiles of 50 pioneering municipalist platforms from every continent.
The European Committee of the Regions joins forces with world networks of local governments in Katowice to request a formal role for cities and regions in the Paris Agreement
Cities account for 70% of world greenhouse emissions, with local governments being responsible for more than 70% of climate change reduction measures and up to 90% of climate adaptation actions. Yet, the Paris Agreement falls short in integrating a system that monitors and reports cities and regions' commitments and achievements in reducing CO₂ emissions. The call for sub-national determined contributions to complement national pledges in the Paris rule book is gaining echo in Katowice as it is increasingly considered central to bridge the current emissions gap.
Mayors stressed the urgency for all levels of government to move faster in line with a UN report on ways the world can keep warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius "The elections should be an occasion for battling against climate change, and putting this important problem on the European agenda," said Colau, speaking at a conference on smart cities in Barcelona. The Catalan city adopted a climate plan this year, which the mayor said lays out a path to cut its planet-warming emissions 45 percent by 2030 and to become carbon-neutral by 2050. The plan also aims to protect vulnerable citizens from intensifying heatwaves, rain storms and drought.
Poles vote in local elections on Sunday (21 October), seen as a key test for the country’s nationalist governing party. Until very recently, energy transition was a political no-go in the coal-dependent country but the situation is evolving, a climate activist and Green local politician in the COP24 host city of Katowice told EURACTIV.com.
“There is a huge gap between local and regional authorities on the one side and the national government. Local and regional authorities are definitely more open to renewables and fighting climate change than the government in Warsaw,” Patryk Białas said on the sidelines of a meeting with the press in Katowice.
The New Localism provides a roadmap for change that starts in the communities where most people live and work.
In their new book, The New Localism, urban experts Bruce Katz and Jeremy Nowak reveal where the real power to create change lies and how it can be used to address our most serious social, economic, and environmental challenges.
Power is shifting in the world: downward from national governments and states to cities and metropolitan communities; horizontally from the public sector to networks of public, private and civic actors; and globally along circuits of capital, trade, and innovation.
On September 22 2013, 50.9% of the Hamburg citizens voted in a referendum for the full remunicipalisation of the energy distribution grids in the city. The referendum was initiated by the citizen’s initiative ‘Our Hamburg – Our Grid’ (OHOG) and constituted the climax of an intense political controversy that lasted for more than three years. Through this vote Hamburg has received international attention and became a flagship example for remarkable civil engagement. In the international best-seller “This Changes Everything” (2014), Naomi Klein sees the driving motive in the people’s ‘desire for local power’. Indeed it is true that under the constitution of the City of Hamburg, a successful referendum has a binding effect, which left the City government no other option than to announce the implementation of the referendum decision and to start the remunicipalisation process immediately after the vote
As the number of people living in cities grows across the globe, so does the role of urban hubs in fighting climate change. Whether large or small, cooperation between neighbouring regions is becoming increasingly important. Bartłomiej Kozek talks to Wojciech Szymalski, chair of the Polish think-tank Institute for Sustainable Development, about different approaches taken by small towns and large cities take in pursuing climate policies and policies to combat energy poverty and smog.
The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) and local and regional government associations from across the European Union committed themselves on 4 July to working together towards a more sustainable, inclusive and innovative Europe. At the invitation of the CoR, and in cooperation with the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR), leaders of EU towns, cities and regions gathered in Brussels to debate the main challenges confronting them in the context of the ongoing political reflection on the Future of Europe.
Networks operators should get involved in blockchain technology otherwise it might threaten their current business model, writes Marius Buchmann.
Cities and, more broadly, local government associations, are attracting more and more attention from EU lawmakers.
On 24 May, Members of the European Parliament’s Constitutional Affairs Committee (AFCO) voted a report on the “Role of cities in the institutional framework of the Union”, initiated by MEP Michal Ujazdowski. This report aims to establish a legal basis to allow cities and their representative associations to be formally and systematically involved in EU decision-making.
This is undoubtedly good news as it explicitly advocates the consolidation of the involvement of local government associations, like CEMR, in the design of EU policy. Furthermore, it calls for them to become key partners to the EU Institutions through a permanent structured dialogue mechanism.
Reacting to the result of the vote, Michal Ujazdowski declared: “The adoption of this report opens the perspective for cities to have a more active role in Europe’s future policy-making”.
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