Mayors in the driving seat of climate action
Europe’s cities are on the frontline of climate action and the drive to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. At the 10th anniversary celebrations of the EU’s Covenant of Mayors, some of its 9,000+ members revealed what is being done to fight climate change.
The late American political scientist Benjamin Barber wrote in his book If Mayors Ruled the Worldthat cities, and the mayors who run them, are the best agents to tackle challenges like climate change and poverty, due to the dysfunctional nature of nation states.
While the message of the Covenant of Mayors 10th anniversary on Thursday (22 February) was not quite as revolutionary as Barber’s way of thinking, city and EU leaders all agreed that Europe’s metropolises have a crucial role to play in facing up to today’s main issues.
The importance of the Covenant was highlighted by the speakers and panellists who attended the event in the European Parliament, with EU Commissioners Carlos Moedas, Miguel Arias Cañete and Maroš Šefčovič, Parliament boss Antonio Tajani and DG Energy’s Dominique Ristori among the attendees.
Speeding up Europe’s energy transition was the main theme of the 2018 get-together and the EU’s main energy and climate leaders all agreed that local level action will be essential in meeting environmental targets.
Climate boss Cañete praised the cities that have so far signed up to the Covenant’s 2030 objectives and the “impressive” efforts that have been made so far, adding that mayors can influence member state governments, which are in the process of drafting national plans that will be used in setting targets for the next decade.
He also urged the Covenant of Mayors to support their American counterparts, who are currently leading the United States’ environmental drive after President Donald Trump announced the US would leave the Paris agreement, and passed a number of backwards-looking laws.
