Local and regional authorities major contributors to EU Green Week 2021
Regarding the launch of the platform, the Commissioner for the Environment,
Oceans and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevičius, said:
"Cities and regions are at the forefront of implementing policies related
to pollution, and are major drivers in the green transition. Many are
already finding innovative solutions to clean their air, water and soil,
and encourage more sustainable patterns of production and consumption. I am
delighted to partner with the European Committee of the Regions to create
this new platform to share these good ideas, and support zero pollution
objectives on the ground."
The President of the European Committee of the Regions and Governor of the
Region of Central Macedonia in Greece,
Apostolos Tzitzikostas
, welcomed the platform stating: "We all have a responsibility to act to
protect our environment, leaving the safe and healthy future our children
and planet deserve. Governments, businesses and stakeholders must all come
together to stop the pollution of our water, air and land. It needs local
leadership which is why the European Committee of the Regions is delighted
to launch the Zero Pollution Stakeholders Platform with the European
Commission."
Vasco Alves Cordeiro
, First Vice-President of the European Committee of the Regions and Member
of the Azores Regional Parliament, took part in the launch event of the
Zero Pollution Stakeholder Platform, saying: "Local and regional
governments are responsible for delivering 70% of EU policies, 70% of
climate mitigation measures and up to 90% of climate adaptation measures.
The Zero Pollution Action Plan is essential to save lives and create a more
sustainable future. Its platform will help translate European goals into
local and regional realities, as regions and cities are in a better
position to assess the effectiveness of measures and the fulfilment of
goals. To be a success, this will need to be an open and inclusive process,
mobilising citizens, SMEs, businesses, social movements, and research
institutions. Exploring synergies and ensuring territorial cohesion is
essential."
Tjisse Stelpstra
(NL/ECR), Member of the Council of the Province of Drenthe, was one of the
jury members of the
European Week for Waste Reduction (EWWR) Awards
. The ceremony, held on 1 June, awarded the most outstanding
awareness-raising actions on waste reduction implemented during the 2020
EWWR. Stelpstra declared: "There is no waste! We need a mind shift in how
to look at resources. Too often in our linear economy, materials are simply
discarded and tossed away. But materials we no longer use, are the
resources of our future. Governments at all levels have to lead in
regulating and stimulating to make a fair transition to a circular economy
possible. The Action Plan of the European Commission says good things on
re-use and the right to repair. We can prevent a lot of waste if products
are designed accordingly. Many people have excellent ideas, but ore than
that, there is a lot of activity. So this award ceremony is for me also a
ceremony of hope and confidence."
On 3 June,
János Ádám Karácsony
(HU/EPP), member of the Local Government of Tahitótfalu and CoR rapporteur
on the
EU Clean Air policy
, engaged in the session
LIFE for clean air– EU funding in pollution hotspots
, which focused on the zero pollution projects that are being carried out
through LIFE funding, and remarked: "The revision of the Ambient Air
Quality directives in connection with the new World Health Organization
guidelines is one of the proposals of greatest importance of the Zero
Pollution Action Plan. The Ambient Air quality directives have a clear
territorial dimension with the definition of zones and agglomeration and
local and regional communities have a fundamental role in improving air
quality in their areas. However, pollution does not stop at local,
regional, national or European borders. To reduce pollution, we need
cooperation and funding. The implementation of air quality programmes will
only succeed if enough financial resources are allocated. EU funding
opportunities, including LIFE, are crucial to achieve climate objectives."
Emmanuel Disabato
(BE/Greens), member of the Parliament of Wallonia, participated in the
high-level session
Achieving zero-pollution cities through regional policy and the
Green City Accord
on 4 June and stated: "The Zero Pollution Action Plan is fundamental if we
truly want to obtain a green recovery and to achieve the objectives of the
European Green Deal. Cities and regions will play a crucial role in its
implementation and in ensuring that there are no gaps between what is
proposed in Brussels and the reality on the ground. Thus, a new 'Zero
Pollution Stakeholder Platform' to bring together stakeholders and experts
from different policy areas will be established in order to assess the
effectiveness of policies and share concerns. The CoR is willing to
contribute to meeting the zero-pollution ambition and for this reason will
continue to support the Green City Accord and its developments."
The session presented the Green City Accord and showed how this initiative
can support the delivery of the zero-pollution ambition at local level.
Niina Ratilainen
(FI/Greens), member of the Turku City Council presented the case of her
city: "The City of Turku is committed to a climate-neutral and
resource-wise future with zero emissions, zero waste, and a low ecological
impact by the year 2040. Our goals are ambitious, but when we look at the
scale and complexity of the ecological crises, no city can strive for less
ambition. The next steps we are about to take include finalising a circular
economy roadmap, establishing a local biodiversity plan and starting to
operate the first large-scale end-of-life textile refinement plant of the
Nordic countries."
On 11 June,
Arno Kompatscher
(IT/EPP), President of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano, participated in
the Green Week partner event co-organized by the CoR. The event was called
Rural and urban challenges in developing regional zero-pollution
plans
and aimed to reflect on the potential solutions that cross-border EU
regions should be aware of and how the CoR could support the process
towards zero-pollution cross-border regions. Kompatscher stated: "Zero
pollution is the vision which determines our goals: whatever we do, there
will always be a certain degree of pollution noise, light, etc. However, we
have to take the right track. Let’s push our efforts to reach close to
zero, safeguarding our enterprises, consumers and territories. Rural vs
urban, cross-border, multilevel: those should be our milestones when
transforming the vision and challenge of today into the reality and
opportunity of tomorrow."
During the previous weeks,
Mark Weinmeister
(DE/EPP), Secretary of State for European Affairs of the Land of Hesse,
participated in the event
A BLUE NEW DEAL: Water’s role in a sustainable and fair future
, where participants discussed the importance of the protection of water
resources as a part of the climate adaptation strategy, and Tjisse Stelpstra (NL/ECR) took part in a seminar on
The role of the circular economy in zero pollution strategies for
healthier people and planet
.
The 2021 edition of EU Green Week took place from 31 May to 4 June 2021,
with Partner Events taking place between 3 May and 13 June.
Contact:
David Crous /
[email protected]
Berta López Domènech /
[email protected]
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