The importance of the role of cities and regions in implementing the Paris Agreement is acknowledged by all. This must be used to encourage cooperation between EU and American cities and regions, argued MEPs on the European Parliament’s environment committee in Brussels on Tuesday 21 November.
In the wake of COP 23 in Bonn (see EUROPE 11907), they were discussing the role of EU cities and regions in the implementation of the Paris Agreement, a debate informed by the opinion report by Gilles Pargneaux (S&D, France) ahead of an own initiative report by Ángela Vallina (GUE/NGL, Spain) currently being prepared within Parliament’s regional policy committee.
The amended report, adopted by an overwhelming majority (59 votes for with 2 abstentions), lays emphasis on the major contribution that EU cities and regions can make on low carbon transport and smart energy networks.
The MEPs also stress that local authorities should be able to adopt mitigation (reduction in greenhouse gas emissions) and adaptation targets, as the states party to the Paris Agreement have done. They suggest that an emissions monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) system be set up.
The European Parliament vote is scheduled for the plenary session in January 2018. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)