Watch our training on Climate Adaptation and Mitigation for Locally Elected Representatives
UCLG learning, PLATFORMA and CEMR organised online a free “Climate Academy: Online training on Adaptation and Mitigation for Locally Elected Representatives” on 12 and 13 March 2024 joined by almost 100 participants.
The climate Academy was opened by CEMR Secretary General Fabrizio Rossi & UCLG Secretary General Emilia Saiz.
Two key note speakers were invited over the two days: Dr. Sergio Castellari, Permanent Mission of Italy to United Nations, on the impacts of climate change at the local level and Prof. Kes McCormick, International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics (IIIEE) Lund University (Sweden) on Accelerating Climate Action at the Local Level.
European Climate policies were explained by Laura Maanavilja, from DG Climate action, European Commission.
Eckart Würzner, Mayor of Heidelberg (Germany) presented the case of Heidelberg as a carbon neutral city. Other local elected officials speaking were Flo Clucas OBE, (Cheltenham, United Kingdom), Andreas Wolter (Cologne, Germany) and Adina Nicolescu (Bucharest, Romania).
Decentralised cooperation
Another part of the academy was dedicated to financial opportunities and analysis of case studies on decentralised cooperation as means and tools to advance in combating and adapting to climate change. The discussion was led by Emre Oguzoncul, Lead on Green Cities Action Plans, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Edward Calthrop, Head of Unit, Projects Directorate, Environment, Climate & Social Office (ECSO) – Climate Policy Unit, European Investment Bank (EIB).
Claudia de Laaf, Project Manager at VNG International (The Netherlands) and David Gómez Murillo, Expert Sustainable Mobility and Risk Management (Costa Rica) presented the MUEVE project: Sustainable mobility, Urban Planning, Equipment and Assessment of Public Space.
Hilda Rochina (VVSG) was there to present Evergem (Belgium) – Guaranda (Ecuador) twinning project on the protection and conservation of water sources and implementation of actions with the participation of beneficiary communities.
Amandine Casca, project officer at Cités Unies France presented the ESENCIA project, an example of decentralized cooperation between the Centre-Val de Loire region in France and the Province of Rio Negro in Argentina.
Last but not least, Pablo Mariani (UCLG) focused on the presence of local and regional governments at recent COPs, while Patricia Menezes, Mayor’s Office Advisor for Global Agendas at the City of Barcarena (Brazil) presented the challenges and opportunities moving forward towards COP30 in Belem.
The 2 days were moderated by PLATFORMA Eva Banos and Boris Tonhauser and UCLG Learning Sara Hoeflich & Juan Carlos Uribe Vega.
