The need to put Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the heart of the European Green Deal as well as transparent and fair allocation mechanisms for the implementation of the European Green Deal were the main issues raised by EPP-CoR members during the 4th meeting of the Green Deal Going Local Working Group held online.
EU Green Deal Roadmap for the European Committee of the Regions (CoR)
During a debate on the European Green Deal road map for the CoR, Michael Murphy, Councillor of Tipperary County Council and ECON Chair said "I fundamentally believe that SDGs and the European Green Deal must go hand in hand to ensure that we eradicate poverty and respect our planetary boundaries."
Ricardo Rio, Mayor of Braga and Rapporteur on the opinion 'Delivering on the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030' said that the SDGs narrative at EU level had weakened. "This is very worrying as SDGs have to be implemented by 2030 and many cities and regions are committed to implement them." In this regard he said that his opinion will put the SDGs back under the spotlight. Rio remarked "SDGs cover all our policies and if we are not careful to mainstream all its dimensions in all policies, there will be no policy coherence and no results at the end." He appealed for the European Green Deal road map to also take into consideration the connection between climate change, the rise in sea level and climate related migration.
Implementing the European Green Deal
Members also discussed the implementation of the European Green Deal and challenges that need to be overcome. Hanna Zdanowska, Mayor of Łódź spoke about the need of transparency in allocation of funds to achieve the European Green Deal locally. "We, local and regional authorities, are the driving force behind pro-environmental activities. We know what we want to do and how to do it. We need transparent, fair allocation mechanisms for the European Green Deal. The selection criteria must be equal for everyone and objectively measurable, with no scope for political games."
Markku Markkula, President of the Helsinki Region and Chair of the Espoo City Board said that a broad and joint European instrument was needed in order to get additional financing for green and digital projects on the ground. Markkula said that in the Helsinki capital region of Finland, cities are using coal for district heating but plans are made to get rid of coal and use renewables instead. However financing remains a challenge. For this we need JTF financing, along with local public & private financing, Markkula added.
Board of the Covenant of Mayors
At the end of the meeting, members were given a debriefing on the Political Board meeting of the Covenant of Mayors by Rafał Trzaskowski, Mayor of Warsaw. He said that the Covenant of Mayors is an important tool to make the Green Deal a reality on the ground. Furthermore, he said that the Covenant should be used as a mechanism to share best practices and to promote the social acceptance of the climate transition, which brings major changes in the lives of citizens. "We all need to join our forces to showcase our role in delivering Green Deal locally, in asking the European Commission for financial and non-financial support for local and regional leaders. We need to ensure that direct money is available for the Green Deal projects, that Cohesion Funds are distributed to all the cities and regions in a transparent and fair way. There is no time to waste, we all need to act towards climate neutral Europe by 2050." he concluded.