By Indriany Lionggo, Jen Heemann, Marine Faber Perrio (IEECP)
The last week of June was an exciting one in Valencia. The city hosted the Valencia Cities Climate Week, a far-reaching event that encompassed the celebration of three main gatherings:
- The Cities Mission Annual Conference,
- EURESFO 2024 (the European Urban Resilience Forum), and
- The Annual Forum of Energy Cities.
IEECP was pleased to join this important week, participating in discussions with local and regional representatives – municipalities and energy agencies-, researchers and experts on climate mitigation and adaptation, as well as representatives from the European Commission and the European Environment Agency (EEA).
EURESFO is a yearly event, driven by ICLEI Europe and the EEA, serving as a unique platform to exchange knowledge in the field of resilience and adaptation, emphasising the benefits of collective efforts in addressing climate change. REGILIENCE, a project funded by the European Union and coordinated by IEECP, was one of the co-organisers of EURESFO for the third year in a row. IEECP disseminated the project’s knowledge and tools, and connected with colleagues from other projects and initiatives, as well as participants, on improving collaboration and cooperation for climate resilience. These were displayed with a stand in the Marketplace and through a key role in the parallel session on Multilevel Governance.
Why Valencia?
The host, Valencia, has showcased the positive impact of collective citizen efforts in maintaining natural assets, and was therefore awarded the title of EU Green Capital 2024 by the European Commission. This distinction recognises the city’s efforts to improve the environment and the quality of life of its residents and visitors alike, considering factors such as the numerous green spaces and sustainable mobility initiatives: definitely a great venue for this week!
Integrated climate action
The open plenary “Transforming Europe together: mayors for integrated climate action” set the tone of the event, with political representatives raising the challenges to be addressed, and showcasing best practices of political engagement driving climate action:
- Heidelberg, Germany’s Eckart Würzner emphasised that “time matters” and, although climate action is advancing, “we need to accelerate and break silos of work in local and regional administrations”. There, public transport is used by almost 80% of residents to commute every day. The city has power plants using at least 50% of energy coming from renewable resources.
- In Leuven, Belgium, Mohamed Ridouani highlighted how collaborative approaches were essential to align local and regional leaderships around a common goal for the city. The continuous involvement and motivation of Leuven-based experts resulted in a Roadmap towards climate neutrality, Leuven 2030.
- From the city of Sofia, Bulgaria, Nadezhda Bobcheva highlighted the importance of justice in climate action, urging the speakers and the audience to consider social justice, especially in the context of many political changes and instability. Sofia installed over 4000 solar panels on the rooftops of its buildings (residential, sport equipment, public infrastructure, as well as schools).
- Jevgeni Ossinovski,for Tallinn, Estonia, presented an Innovation Programme called ‘Test in Tallinn’, where local/ international research institutions and experts are invited to use the city as a test bed in creating practical solutions against climate impacts.
- For Arnhem-Nijmegen, The Netherlands, Harriët Tiemens presented climate solutions developed with a future projection on water and nature for the next 100 years named ‘The Netherlands 2120’, a long-term plan involving various stakeholders.
Unlocking climate finance
To accomplish the EU ambitious climate targets by 2030, there is an urgent need for robust and sustainable activities, through quick project implementation, flexible financing, and increased public-private partnerships. Therefore, the second plenary session was focused on financing climate adaptation and mitigation, as one of the biggest challenges that local governments cannot solve on their own.
To invest in the implementation of climate measures, cities need a comprehensive strategy to create project portfolios ready for funding and financing. It addresses the immediate need for financial plans to assist in cities’ climate change adaptation. Financing in climate resilient infrastructure, green spaces, and sustainable development practices is of vital importance as cities become more vulnerable to extreme weather events, rising sea levels, and other climate-related effects. Cities can better manage the complicated environment of financing sources and regulatory requirements by integrating climate adaptation finance with multi-level governance.
Many experts from cities, several institutions, and the European Commission acknowledge the significant challenge local governments face in financing climate adaptation. The need for collaboration with public and private sectors and the creation of project portfolios ready for funding underscore the urgency and difficulty of addressing climate resilience without piggybacking on climate mitigation funding.
The lingering discussions on policy-related issues, such as applying mitigation policies at various levels and avoiding competition in funding between adaptation and mitigation solutions, indicate ongoing concerns and complexities in policy implementation.
Multi-level governance, cooperation, and just transition
As highlighted in the latest European Climate Risk Assessment (EUCRA), most major climate risks impacting European countries are “co-owned” by the EU, its Member States, or other government levels. The EEA assessment stresses that the EU and its Member States need to work together and involve regional and local levels to address and reduce climate risks in Europe.
Addressing this call to action, the topic of multi-level governance remained the “main topic of the day” with REGILIENCE making a significant impact with an engaging parallel session “Multi-level governance: coordinating for climate adaptation”.
Multi-level governance (MLG) aims to promote collaborative and inclusive decision-making by involving multiple stakeholders from various governance levels and sectors, which can encourage the effective use of resources and expertise across different levels and sectors of governments and society.
The panel discussion was moderated by the REGILIENCE partners ICLEI and Resilient Cities Network, aiming to analyse multi-level governance from a climate adaptation perspective. It provided an opportunity to reflect on the role of vertical cooperation, considering the peculiarities of adaptation versus mitigation action, presenting and reviewing current strategies for possible replication.
Jen Heemann (Researcher and Project Manager at IEECP, and project coordinator of REGILIENCE) introduced the session by highlighting the current state of MLG coordination in Europe and making the point that “collaboration is no rocket science, it’s sometimes harder!”.
Jen reminded the audience about important EU frameworks and guidelines for achieving climate neutrality and adapting to climate change, such as the European Climate Law and the EU Adaptation Strategy. She also mentioned efforts being done at the national, regional, and local levels, with the Covenant of Mayors and Mission on Adaptation supporting subnational adaptation actions. Jen, reminding the EEA’s contribution to an earlier REGILIENCE webinar, stated that although we have made progress in understanding the climate risks and preparing for them, coordinated implementation is lagging behind the increasing climate risk levels. Creative and effective ways of communication and collaboration are now as important as assessing risks and vulnerabilities, and innovative forms of informal and formal cooperation are needed to overcome challenges constraining collaboration.
The introduction was followed by an engaging discussion, in which local and regional representatives highlighted the importance of setting mechanisms for multi-level governance coordination, strategically approaching the strengths of various governance levels to foster vertical cooperation, while also encouraging horizontal learning and dissemination across regions and sectors, which is crucial in climate adaptation. Emphasis was put on the regional level’s pivotal role in financing, policy, participation, and coordination between national, regional, and local levels.
The importance of multi-level governance combined with just transition reflects a critical need for broader inclusive collaboration. These important streams reflect the transversal nature of resilience and motivate different levels of government – from local to regional, national and European – to move from problems to solutions.
During the session, messages and ideas to promote MLG collaboration and coordination were mentioned by the speakers, such as:
- At the EU level, the Mission on Adaptation has created a Community of Practice (CoP) to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and experiences on climate adaptation and resilience among cities and regions, which can be found on Climate-ADAPT platform.
- In Croatia, Miljenko Sedlkar (REGEA, REGILIENCE) mentioned the creation of a functional platform that the government widely uses to find information in Croatian. More focus is given to adaptation solutions where the implementation and monitoring of adaptation involve all sectors, with a participatory approach including various stakeholders.
- In Romania, Emilia Botezan (Cluj-Napoca City Hall) mentioned the importance of translating ideas and concepts to the citizens’ language, ensuring that local communities understand and easily connect with the action plans, promoting inclusivity.
- Yann Françoise (City of Paris, France) also recommended extending multi-level governance efforts to all stakeholders, especially the citizens.
- Additionally, Toomas Toodu (Pärnu County) mentioned that Estonia developed the Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plans (SECAP) two years ago when there was a need to have a common vision instead of doing the energy and climate actions separately at the local level.
- Jordi Peris Blanes (Technical University of Valencia) summarised the discussions, linking ideas and messages mentioned, highlighting that good communication is crucial to enhance collaboration.
Overall, the discussions highlighted the need for inclusive resilience and coordination across all levels of government. Representatives from various regions shared insights on improving communication and collaboration for effective climate action, reminding how crucial it is to foster multi-level collaboration and innovation at local level for a resilient future. The potential opportunities for innovation and adaptation that exist at the local level were also discussed, as well as the need for cooperation and unity because organisations and businesses cannot handle change on their own.
EURESFO called the attention to significant progress and collaboration in climate action and urban resilience, it also conveyed a sense of urgency and acknowledged the challenges and complexities that need to be addressed. The next EURESFO edition will be in Rotterdam!
For more on the REGILIENCE participation at EURESFO, read the article: https://regilience.eu/building-resilient-cities-in-valencia-wrap-up-for-euresfo24/
