Copenhagen, 23/03/2012 (Agence Europe) - At the end of its Summit of Cities and Regions in Copenhagen on 22-23 March, the Committee of the Regions (CoR) issued a statement setting out its sustainable development wish list ahead of the global environmental summit, Rio +20, in June.
The CoR is determined to demonstrate the desire of cities and regions to do more to foster sustainable urban development, and is intending to get its message across at the big Rio summit. The CoR will be part of the European institutions' delegation to Rio and is preparing a message that will hit home. Drawing a fine close to its fifth summit of cities and regions, organised together with the Danish authorities, the CoR issued a Copenhagen Statement for more beautiful, greener, more inclusive, more competitive and better integrated European cities. The CoR president, Mercedes Bresso, doubts that the EU member states attending the Rio summit will be able to reach formal agreement to tackle climate change. The mayor of Copenhagen, who is head of Eurocities, Frank Jensen, explains that cities have greater aims than national governments when it comes to sustainable development and Copenhagen, for example, is planning to be carbon-neutral by 2025. Bresso says that the statement will be useful to help achieve something tangible in Rio.
Referring to cities' work to cut greenhouse gas emissions, properly manage resources like renewable energy, water and waste, and introduce solidarity combined with competitiveness, the CoR wants the EU to finance an over-arching urban policy in the future and get cities and regions on board when it draws up policy. The CoR says that the EU's urban policies must be defended at the Rio +20 summit to help acknowledge the need to incorporate sustainable urban development as a key part of national sustainable development policies. (MD/transl.fl)