CoR - Committee of the Regions

11/15/2024 | Press release | Archived content

EU Cities and Regions at COP29: Flash report 13 & 14 November

Welcome to the second edition of the COP Chronicles, bringing you the latest news on COP29 from Baku, Azerbaijan.

The third and fourth day of COP29 were no less eventful than the start of the conference. With the World Climate Action Summit (WCAS) coming to an end, the CoR President participated in the LGMA Constituency's response to the Summit and in the WCAS official high-level side event on urbanisation and multilevel climate action. These days were characterised by discussions on intensified collaboration between the CoR and various subnational networks to amplify the voice of local and regional governments in the global arena. The CoR delegation was also involved in discussions with EU negotiators and in multiple panel discussions, including on innovative solutions for transport and the building sector as well as the role of small cities in achieving the climate goals.

LGMA Constituency's Response to World Climate Action Summit. The World Climate Action Summit (WCAS) marks a critical moment during COPs as global leaders announce new climate pledges and showcase national action plans. To respond to it, the LGMA Constituency organised a high-level event gathering local leaders. The CoR President Vasco Alves Cordeiro stressed the need for global leaders to put forward ambitious targets that are backed by substantial resources for LRAs. He called for the inclusion of LRAs in drafting, financing and implementation of new Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) ahead of COP30 in Brazil. The CoR President spoke alongside Yuriko Koike, Governor of Tokyo, Ekrem İmamoğlu, Mayor of Istanbul and Erion Veliaj, Mayor of Tirana.

WCAS Side Event on Urbanisation - COP Presidencies bringing cities, urbanisation and multilevel climate action to the heart of the climate agenda. The CoR delegation attended the only official side event of the WCAS focusing on urbanisation and multilevel climate action. During his speech, the CoR President thanked the COP29 Presidency and the incoming Brazilian Presidency for establishing the COP Baku Continuity Coalition. He emphasised the need for Parties to uphold and build on the principles of last year's Coalition for High Ambition Multilevel Partnerships (CHAMP) and ensure coherence between the past and future initiatives. Furthermore, he called on Parties to adopt an ambitious new global climate finance goal that allows LRAs to have direct access to climate finance, including private funding sources. The President spoke alongside Yuriko Koike, Governor of Tokyo, Maimunah Sharif, Mayor of Kuala Lumpur and Helder Barbalho, Governor of the state of Pará.

Local Action, Global Goals - UN Support towards Cities in the NDCs. The CoR President participated in an event organised by UN-Habitat to discuss urban needs in NDCs and how UN agencies could contribute to strengthening urban perspectives therein. He highlighted that in recent years collective efforts have sparked significant progress in the inclusion of LRAs on the global stage. He underlined the need for national governments to collaborate closely with subnational governments in the development of the new NDCs by COP30. He spoke alongside Benoit Charette, Quebec's Minister of the Environment, and Tatiana Molcean, Executive Secretary of United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.

Meeting with Cities and Regions Networks. The CoR delegation and CoR Secretary General Ptr Blížkovský met with representatives from global networks, namely ICLEI, Regions4, Climate-KIC and UNEP. The meeting served as an opportunity to review the joint collaboration and to deliberate ways forward towards 2030. The CoR Secretary General applauded the significant milestones that have been achieved in recent years and expressed his satisfaction about the strong partnerships established among the participants of the meeting, formalised in joint action plans. Looking ahead to COP30, participants emphasised their willingness to enhance collaboration to amplify the voice of the LGMA Constituency.

European local leaders meet with EU negotiators. Vincent Chauvet (FR/Renew Europe) and Niina Ratilainen (FI/The Greens) met with Jan Dusík, Deputy Director General of DG CLIMA. They received essential updates on the negotiations and explored how LRAs can contribute to achieving a successful COP and implement measures within regions and cities. In October, the EU Conclusions on COP29 once again stressed the leadership of LRAs and the importance of strengthening multilevel governance in climate policy: a success for European regions, as EU negotiators are thus expected to highlight this issue at the negotiating table.

At the Sustainable Innovation Forum, Juraj Droba (SK/ECR) highlighted specific initiatives and investments that the Bratislava Self-Governing region is undertaking to upgrade its regional public transport system and the barriers identified in the process. Joško Klisović (HR/PES) took part in another panel on sustainable smart cities, reiterating that enhanced cross-sectoral collaboration and the use of digital technologies in urban planning can help reduce emissions from carbon-intensive industries.

General Assembly of the Under2Coalition. Andries Gryffroy (BE/EA) joined the annual meeting of the network with leading state and regional government members. Participants called on national governments to work with LRAs and business to submit better, investible and ambitious NDCs by the February 2025 deadline. They also called for effective and accessible climate finance, guided through the new global finance goal and for immediate, concrete action in areas such as energy, transport, and industry.

Integrating Multi-Level Climate Actions and NDCs with Local Climate Fund. This event hosted at the Korean Pavilion looked into LRAs' efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the associated benefits for sustainable development, economic development and community involvement. Vincent Chauvet enriched the discussion by presenting the role of small European cities in achieving the NDCs and giving insights into his experience as Mayor of Autun.

Developing States and Regions' Leadership on Climate Finance. At this event organised by the Scottish Government, Juraj Droba spoke about how the Bratislava region is employing innovative finance solutions to advance climate action. Moreover, he highlighted some actions that national governments could undertake to facilitate the uptake of new finance models for LRAs.

In his capacity as CoR Climate Pact Ambassador, Vincent Chauvet participated in a briefing for the European Climate Pact community with Dimitrios Zevgolis, Head of Multilateral Affairs Unit in DG CLIMA. The European Climate Pact is a movement of people united around the common cause to build a more sustainable Europe. It brings together individuals, communities and organisations to fight climate change and adapt to its inevitable impacts.

Vincent Chauvet also engaged in a bilateral discussion with a representative from the Institut de la Francophonie pour le Développement durable to discuss effective implementation of climate action in subnational governments of the 88 member states and governments of La Francophonie

Take a visual journey with our COP29 photo gallery and Live Blog!

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