CoR - Committee of the Regions

11/18/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 11/19/2024 10:18

EU Cities and Regions at COP29: Flash report 15 & 16 November

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

The first week of COP29 is now behind us and the CoR delegation and Secretary General have made full use of the past few days to voice the priorities of local and regional authorities at the international stage. A special highlight was the CoR event on subnational climate finance, where the findings of a CoR study on the topic were presented. Our delegation was also actively involved as speakers at panels on topics such as sustainable agriculture, hydrogen and the links between climate, biodiversity and the Sustainable Development Goals. Moreover, bilateral meetings were held with various partners, such as UNEP and the European Investment Bank.

Building the business case for climate finance at the subnational level. This official UNFCCC side event was organised by the CoR in collaboration with Regions4, the Under2 Coalition and Climate-KIC, among others. The aim of the event was to address the fact that, despite progress in mobilising climate adaptation finance, a significant funding gap persists at the subnational level. Niina Ratilainen (FI/The Greens) participated in the panel discussion and presented the key findings of the CoR study on Adaptation financing mechanisms for action at the local and regional levels. The study contains recommendations for overcoming barriers LRAs face in accessing both public and private finance for climate adaptation.

Meeting with Quebec's Minister for the Environment. The CoR delegation and the CoR Secretary General met with Benoit Charette, Quebec's Minister for the Environment, to boost cooperation between Quebec and the EU at the subnational level and advance joint work towards the effective implementation of multilevel governance in the UN process.

Bilateral with UNEP's head of cities and buildings. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is the leading global authority on environmental issues and organises the Biodiversity COP, which took place just a few weeks ago in Cali (Colombia) and in which the CoR participated. The CoR delegation and the CoR Secretary General Petr Blížkovský had the opportunity to talk to the organisation's Head of Cities and Buildings, Gulnara Roll, about future joint efforts to better align work on climate and biodiversity, guided by an upcoming UNEP-CoR joint action plan.

Legal challenges for cities seeking to go net-zero. An event at the Korean Pavilion brought together stakeholders from various geographical backgrounds to explore the impact different legal systems and approaches to governance can have on cities' efforts to achieve carbon neutrality. Joško Klisović (HR/PES) contributed to the discussion by presenting his experience in Zagreb and as CoR rapporteur on the Governance Regulation.

Agri-food Systems Summit. Vincent Chauvet (FR/Renew Europe) was invited to speak on the panel on farmer-led pathways to a just transition during the third edition of this summit. Panellists discussed about how farmers can be granted the support they need to make the shift to regenerative farming. He reiterated that the benefits of sustainable farming practices can boost local economies and that the adoption of farmer-led sustainability approaches across Europe needs to take place in a coordinated, multilevel approach.

Investing in our built environment: the role of cities and regions in NDCS. Andries Gryffroy (BE/EA) participated in this event co-organised by UN-Habitat, UNEP and UNDP. He presented how subnational action in Flanders, bolstered by multilevel coordination, can promote implementation and unlock private finance toward a low-carbon and resilient built environment.

Hydrogen Transition Summit. This event aimed to facilitate global cooperation to accelerate the development of a hydrogen economy and market. Andries Gryffroy spoke at a panel on infrastructure development, presenting his own experience in Flanders with innovations in hydrogen distribution and storage technologies.

Meeting with the European Investment Bank (EIB). The CoR Secretary General discussed channels of cooperation with the Deputy Director General of the Operations Directorate at the EIB and explored additional synergies between the two institutions. Both institutions can benefit from developing new ways of financing LRAs to accelerate the clean transition.

Overcoming silos and policy incoherence to close the climate & SDGs ambition gap. Fragmentation across governance, financing instruments and knowledge-sharing practices hinders progress in achieving both the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement. Niina Ratilainen participated in a panel organised by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, discussing actionable steps and recommendations for aligning policies and maximising shared benefits. With the next round of nationally determined contributions (NDCs) approaching at COP30, she called for stronger synergies horizontally across policy areas as well as vertically by strengthening multilevel coordination.

The role of regional and local action in achieving national goals. This event at the Portugal Pavilion highlighted the contribution of LRAs to achieving NDCs. Niina Ratilainen contributed by sharing her experiences as a councillor in Turku and emphasising the need for enhanced multilevel coordination to develop coherent and viable pathways towards a net-zero future.

Take a visual journey with our COP29 photo gallery and live blog.

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