Direct funding for cities and regions to implement concrete green projects, engagement of cities and regions in decision making as well as keeping citizens at the centre of the green transition were the key topics raised by Rafał Trzaskowski, Mayor of Warsaw during a debate organized by the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies on Climate Change. The debate was moderated by Dimitar Lilkov and included MEP Esther de Lange.
Trzaskowski commended the EU's approach of tackling all ongoing challenges as the same time. He said "We need to focus on the recovery and fight the pandemic but at the same time we must not lose the European Green Deal from our sight". He added that while some governments were not keen on fulfilling the European Green Deal objectives, several mayors of big cities wanted to work tirelessly on the European Green Deal as there is no other way forward. "If we want to improve quality of life, we need to fight climate change and work for cleaner air, save energy, remove diesel buses from our roads and improve energy efficiency of buildings."
Trzaskowski, who served as the European Committee of the Regions' Rapporteur on the Climate Pact said that Europe could not lose people in the transition. He referred to challenges in several EU regions including dependence on coal. "We can't lose several jobs. The funds earmarked by the EU for the Green Deal must also be used to invest in new jobs and in innovation." In this regard he said that more funds were needed for the transition.
Referring to the manoeuvres of some governments that use political criteria to distribute EU funds, Trzaskowski said that governments must include local and regional authorities (LRAs) in the decision making process especially in the implementation of projects. He reiterated his proposal for funds to be directly distributed to LRAs and called on the EU to come up with concrete European programmes that are directly executed by cities and regions such as replacing diesel buses from roads and making key buildings more energy efficient. Having the recent agreement on the EU budget in mind, he also underlined the importance of respecting the rule of law while stressing that the cities and regions should not be penalised for the decisions and actions of the central governments.
The Mayor of Warsaw emphasized the need to focus on key specific actions rather than simply numbers and targets. He also underlined that a change in mentality was needed in the way money is invested shifting attention towards green investment. Trzaskowski also spoke of several challenges to fulfil the European Green Deal including populism disregarding climate change and the pandemic which had reduced income for cities and regions thus limiting investment in the field.
In his concluding remarks, Trzaskowski emphasized the need to engage and educate people. He recalled how in Warsaw the city was involving experts and citizens in decisions taken on green projects via the thematic panel or participatory budgets while financing projects such as the replacement of coal furnaces.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqESAZeuRos