On Thursday 11 April, the Commission for the Environment, Climate Change and Energy of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) adopted recommendations ahead of a series of international events, including COP29 on climate change, COP16 on biodiversity and the United Nations Summit on the Future.
These recommendations, drawn up by the mayor of Warsaw, Rafal Trzaskowski, and the deputy mayor of Budapest, Kata Tüttö, respectively chair and vice-chair of the ENVE commission, aim to harmonise sustainable development, biodiversity and climate goals.
The draft opinion, which will be formally adopted at the plenary session in June, sets out to strengthen the harmonisation of global frameworks for climate change, biodiversity and sustainable development. It relies on a multinational and holistic approach to tackling interconnected global crises.
The document calls for multi-faceted action to meet the objectives of the Rio Conventions, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 goals (SDGs), and the COP28 Joint Declaration on Climate, Nature and People.
The CoR also expressed its concern that the world is not on track to meet the SDGs, risking exceeding the 1.5°C target set by the Paris Agreement, while nature is declining at an unprecedented rate.
According to the draft opinion, local and regional authorities play a pivotal role in designing, implementing, financing and monitoring integrated solutions for these crises.
The document calls for greater inclusion of sub-national governments in United Nations framework agreements, criticising the current mechanisms for their lack of transparency and homogeneity.
It recommends that the European Commission assess how EU Member States design multinational governance structures and share monitoring methods and systems in their strategies.
It also suggests sharing best practice between EU Member States to promote policy coherence and multilevel governance, and urges the European Commission to take these best practices into account when reviewing the Regulation on the Governance of the Energy Union and Climate Action.
To read the draft opinion, go to https://aeur.eu/f/brv (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)