JOINT BRIEFING: Good Practices on Climate Action and Energy Transition at Local Level

The climate crisis will not be fully addressed if governments at all levels are not actively involved cities and municipalities don’t do their part, and the whole society does not acknowledge the urgent need to face this huge environmental challenge for the sake of humanity and the planet.

European local authorities exercise delegated power in numerous sectors responsible for direct emissions of greenhouse gas and energy consumption, such as transport, buildings, fluorinated gases (refrigeration and air conditioning systems), industry, agriculture and waste. Various cities and municipalities across the EU already have local action plans on climate and energy. Their actions include measures in sectors such as energy (through renewable selfconsumption, energy communities and efficiency energy), mobility (through traffic restrictions, modal changes in transportation, teleworking…), urban planning (through urban regeneration and naturalisation), buildings (through energy renovation), waste collection and recycling, among others.

This briefing, published by the Together for 1.5 consortium the 5th of December, highlights the wide diversity of local actions on climate and energy that local authorities may develop in their territories, as well as the similarities between sectoral measures put in place in different Member States to curb energy use and GHG emissions, which allows to replicate or adapt best practices in other EU territories, while ensuring the protection of nature and strengthening socio-economic aspects.

This joint briefing pretends to serve as an informative and useful compilation tool for local authorities by offering different examples of successful best practices on climate action and energy transition at local level. Based on the collected positive experiences implemented in seven EU countries (Belgium, Croatia, Estonia, France, Poland, Portugal and Spain), this briefing is meant to be an inspiration for local entities that do not yet have climate action plans and a motivation to start preparing their own local action plan by replicating climate action measures implemented by other entities with similar characteristics, regarding energy transition, and mitigation and adaptation to climate change.