A voice for local government on energy and climate

Maryke Van Staden emphasises the advantages of a networking action that involves local governments in the European Union and which gives them access to the ongoing, increasingly complex and time-sensitive international debate on energy and climate.

Local governments number over 100,000 across Europe. They therefore have a tremendous potential for positive change in their respective communities. Climate change is expected to dramatically impact on urban areas where 80 per cent of the population resides. Time is an issue for making significant progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and it is therefore essential to make big changes in energy production methods, distribution of energy and its use. Sustainable, secure solutions to energy is one of the most pressing issues that face us all and so making local governance link effectively with all decision making levels will spell the difference between success or failure.

The 20-20-20 targets set for Europe require local governments to act in a coordinated way and communicate back to the European Union and all the relevant satellite organisations what is needed on the ground to cut emissions effectively and use energy in an optimised way. Supporting smart energy solutions and low-carbon societies requires the cooperation of citizens and local governments to adjust the way they do things. As the closest level of governance to citizens, and as community leaders, local governments have excellent potential to guide the process of change by changing their own energy use in municipal operations (corporate sector) and the opportunity to lead change among citizens and businesses (community sector) and potentially local industry. Their importance in shaping this desired direction is therefore second to none.

LG-Action is an important local government networking action aimed at presenting government positions relevant to climate and energy to both local and national governments, the European Commission and post-2012 climate negotiations. The consortium is comprised of several organisations, namely: ICLEI Europe who lead the project, LGDK which stands for Local Government Denmark, The Association of Cities and Regions for Recycling and Sustainable Resource Management, known as ACR+ (an international network of nearly 100 members), The Regional Environmental Centre for Central and Eastern Europe or REC (international organisation with a mission to assist in solving environmental problems) and the non-profit organisation, Italian Local Agenda 21 or CA21L.

LG-Action provides information, mobility and support for the positioning of local governments, and calls for greater recognition of their essential roles in climate protection and sustainable energy roll-out.

Communicating effectively

LG-Action builds on existing networks and addresses climate protection and sustainable energy in various ways. Firstly, it makes local governments aware of their powers for change in local energy issues and with this awareness it encourages local governments to link up to and influence national, European and international (UN) climate protection processes. LG Action seeks to raise awareness specifically among local governments in the EU27 of their powers for change, their responsibility and key role to drastically reduce GHG emissions in their corporate and community sector. For real change the local powers can make a great difference to the systems that are put in place in relation to energy and climate policy. This is why the project has sent out an information pack called the LG Action Guide which will reach around 70,000 local governments and an electronic information package (www.lg-action.eu).

The need for positioning

The network also seeks to strengthen the positioning of local government, by growing a stronger presence in a national context and in driving support for national CO2 reduction targets and energy security. A key to enhancing the role of local government in this way is through advocacy, and encouraging national and European recognition for the essential role local governments play in the climate and energy debate. The network is essentially a way of enhancing the influence of local governments, which may otherwise – to an uncomfortable degree – be disconnected from the centres of power that are responsible for national and international policy. It is essential to mobilise local governments to link up to and influence European and international (UN) climate protection processes and to contribute to a European framework and the global climate negotiations.

Local governments need to establish positions that can feed into national, European and international climate and energy dialogues. Recognition is arguably the first stage to empowerment and to harmonising with the larger frameworks and organisations.

Through the efforts of local government networks such as LG Action more local governments were represented at COP 15 in December 2009 than ever before. COP 15 still requires a lot of work and collaborative agreement in the aftermath and following this, COP 16 is due this year. With this in mind, European local governments need to maintain a high profile representation and involvement in the important issues and policies that are aired in COP dialogues.

Achievements to date

One of the reasons the involvement of local governments was so strong in the last COP meeting was undoubtedly due to the creation of the Local Government Climate Roadmap. Organisations representing local governments all around the world launched the Local Government Climate Roadmap – to advocate for a strong post-2012 climate deal and to emphasise the crucial role of cities and local governments in climate protection. Partners in this process included ICLEI Europe, who lead the LG-Action consortium and therefore are pivotal to representing local government influence.

The project has been active in presenting local government positions relevant to climate and energy to a range of actors: local government associations, national governments and the European Commission.

As a result of LG-Action’s efforts, local governments across Europe have been informed and mobilised, with a heightened interest in becoming more active in developing and implementing local sustainable energy solutions.

In summary, LG Action provides a bridge between levels of governance, and provides a common platform for local governments who require participation in the European and international energy and climate debate.

More more information on the LG Action project, please visit their website http://www.lg-action.eu

Published: Wednesday, 28th July 2010 by Adelle Kehoe