Direct funding for cities and regions to support green deal projects, EU funds to build waste to energy plants, engagement of local and regional leaders in shaping policies and the need to tackle climate as an emergency and global threat were the key issues raised by EPP-CoR members during a virtual ENVE commission meeting.
During a Green Deal debate on 'Achieving 2030 Climate Targets and supporting green transition at local and regional level', Rafał Trzaskowski, Rapporteur of the Climate Pact and a representative of the Visegrád Capital Mayors Initiative said that cities and regions had views which differed from those of governments that are not committed to fight climate change. The Mayor of Warsaw also referred to the rule of law conditionality saying that cities and regions could not be held responsible for the shortcomings of national governments in terms of EU funds. In this regard he appealed for more financial support. Trzaskowski said "If we want to fight climate change we need to engage LRAs and provide financial support through direct mechanisms."
Brigitta Pallauf, President of the Salzburg state parliament, also called for access to funding underlying that there are already instruments granting direct access to EU funds such as the European City Facility under the Horizon 2020 Programme, Urban Innovative Actions under the ERDF and the future European Urban Initiative-post 2020 under the ERDF/CF Regulation. Pallauf reiterated "We would like to see additional instruments to be set up, especially for the Green Deal projects, to make the green transition successful."
Rastislav Trnka, Chairman of Košice Self - Governing Region said that the understanding and management of the risks of climate change at a local or regional scale requires the development of a common vision between key stakeholders from the central level to the local level – the level that citizens trust the most. During a debate on the opinion on 'The impact of climate change on regions: an assessment of the European Green Deal' Trnka said that cities and regions work directly with people and therefore they can find solutions and function as laboratories for new ideas and knowledge.
During the meeting, Markku Markkula, Chair of the Board of Helsinki Region and Rapporteur of the opinion on 'Adaptation to climate change to promote sustainability and quality of life in cities and regions' said "We need to focus more on learning and increasing human capital at all levels. This means resilience, sustainability as 'a new normal', as well as tackling climate as an emergency and global threat." Markkula added that the EU needs to create incentives for the municipalities in order to achieve SDGs. He also outlined the need for further collaboration with the international community. Referring to the missions Climate Resilient Europe and 100 climate-neutral cities by 2030, Markkula said that cities and regions can take a stronger role and take strong actions to adapt to climate change.
The ENVE commission also discussed an opinion on 'An EU Strategy for Energy System Integration' where Aires Pereira, Mayor of Póvoa de Varzim spoke about the challenges in the waste management sector in Portugal. He said that his city, Póvoa de Varzim, was investing in necessary infrastructure. He called for EU funds to build waste-to-energy plants or to expand existing ones. He also appealed for adequate political will from national governments otherwise Europe will fall short of achieving EU targets and the 2030 SDGs.