Child: Brussels hopes for solutions for people's well-being
Last week, Patrick Child, Head of the Mission 100 Climate Neutral and Smart Cities by 2030, visited Slovenia to find out how the Slovenian Mission cities - Kranj, Ljubljana and Velenje - are progressing towards a climate treaty, what challenges they face, and how the EU and the country can help.
On Wednesday, 6th December, Patrick Child, Deputy Director-General for Environment at the European Commission and Head of the Mission 100 Climate Neutral and Smart Cities by 2030, met with the Mayor of Kranj, Matjaž Rakovec, the Mayor of Ljubljana, Zoran Janković, and the Mayor of Velenje, Peter Dermol, at a working meeting at Ljubljana City Hall. They were joined by the Minister for Cohesion and Regional Development, Dr Aleksander Jevšek, a representative of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Spatial Planning, members of the Representation of the European Commission in the Republic of Slovenia and others.
Child is visiting European cities on mission, discussing with representatives of the state and regional institutions the progress cities are making in decarbonisation, and learning about the challenges they face in meeting their climate targets. In doing so, they are looking for solutions or opportunities to discuss the challenges and work with national institutions in the future.
Currently, the mission cities are tasked with preparing a Climate City Contract (CCC), which includes a detailed action plan for the city's decarbonisation up to 2023, and an investment plan that supports the implementation of the outlined actions, and submitting it to the NetZeroCities and the European Commission for review.
Kranj plans to submit the Climate Contract on 15 March next year, and is currently in the final stages of preparing the Action Plan and is about to sign a commitment from key stakeholders to implement or follow the planned actions to reduce its carbon footprint. "There are challenges, of course, but I am confident that we will get confirmation from Brussels in spring 2024 that we are on the right track. As the capital of Gorenjska, we will also share our experience with the other 17 neighbouring municipalities," said Rakovec.
Child expressed his satisfaction that all three Slovenian cities have established a Slovenian partnership and are therefore cooperating constructively in the preparation and implementation of the documents, as well as in the UP-SCALE pilot project, exchanging good practices and will encourage other Slovenian cities to implement climate action throughout the Mission. "In Brussels, we will welcome any strategy that will contribute to achieving the climate goals and thus to the well-being of the people. Cities are key to this, money and technology are available, and I can see that you are not short of ideas," said Child, after the mayors gave a brief presentation on what they have already done in the field of sustainability and smart solutions, and what they are planning to do in the near future.
