The European Committee of the Regions will step up collaboration with the European Commission's Directorate-General for Climate Action (DG CLIMA) with a new Joint Action Plan signed the CoR's ENVE Commission meeting on 24 June. The plan aims at boosting the recognition of cities and regions' crucial role in decarbonisation, clean transition and resilience.
ENVE commission chair Kostas Bakoyannis (EL/EPP), member of Athens City Council said: "The Action Plan with DG CLIMA marks an important step forward in reinforcing our shared efforts to keep climate action high on the EU agenda and to accelerate implementation on the ground. In the current geographical situation, it is even more important to do our part: environment, climate change and energy are strongly connected with some of the root causes of ongoing and potential conflicts. Moreover, this month Europe has been gripped in the first prolonged heatwave of the season – a direct signal of the intensifying climate crisis. The message is clear: climate action must come together with building better water resilience."
The action plan signed by ENVE chair Kostas Bakoyannis and DG CLIMA Deputy Director-General Jan Dusík proposes to promote the development of local and regional climate policies and plans aligned with EU climate targets and embedded in National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs). The plan also sets the goal of improving access to EU funding for local and regional authorities in the field of climate mitigation, adaptation and resilience.
The action plan further includes actions to strengthen cooperation and subnational climate diplomacy at the international climate conferences, such as this year's COP30, and in the frame of bottom-up initiatives, such as the Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy, the Mission on Adaptation, the Cities Mission and the European Climate Pact.