אייראָפּע ס שטעט און מקומות: יו.ען. קלימאַט האַנדל 'אן אנדער מיסט געלעגנהייט'

The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) has welcomed the international climate deal struck during the UN talks in Peru. Annabelle Jaeger, member of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur and representing the Committee within the EU's delegation in Lima, warned however that though it was a step forward, a far greater level of ambition was needed to stop temperatures rising above 2°C when the major climate talks are held in Paris next year. She also described the last minute decision to delete the reference to local government as "another missed opportunity".

The five-page text agreed on Sunday (14 December) – known as the לימאַ רופן פֿאַר קלימאַט קאַמף – was finally adopted by all negotiating parties during the UN Conference (COP 20) and for the first time commits rising economies and rich countries to take action on climate change. On behalf of the Committee – the EU's assembly of local and regional governments - Annabelle Jaeger had taken part in a סעריע פון ​​געשעענישן and worked within the EU delegation to shape an international agreement ahead of the UN Paris climate change talks in 2015. Commenting on the outcome, Jaeger said, "We are relieved that some form of agreement was reached. It does pave the way for countries to set out how they will contribute and an agreement was reached on the basic criteria that can be deemed just about acceptable. Nevertheless, it can't be said that it has set the bar high in terms of ambition in tackling climate change and it is not nearly enough to stop temperatures rising above the danger mark of 2°C".The potential lack of transparency of the contributions each country will make in tackling climate change was also a cause for concern, "As an international community we must all share the burden but that requires transparency to allow comparisons to be made, to target those needing support and to evaluate how far we have come. The UNFCCC will publish a report evaluating country contributions just in time for the Paris talks – if the report says the numbers do not add up it will be near to impossible to persuade nations to upscale their contribution in time for an agreement to be reached by the end of next year," Jaeger said.

Jaeger also expressed disappointment as the two weeks of negotiations had watered down the text removing references to the role of local governments, "For cities and regions we began with high hopes: the initial draft explicitly stated that national governments must support us by offering the right regulatory framework and financial investment. However, the final outcome has left a bitter pill to swallow: after intense negotiations the text was removed having been rejected by some countries".

The Committee, working alongside other organizations such as Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI), had hoped that local governments would be formally recognized as "governmental organizations". Following the UN Conference local governments will continue to be treated as "observers", "non-governmental stakeholders" and now, "experts", which does not recognize their key role in democratic policymaking, implementation of mitigation policies, risk reduction and resilience building.

הינטערגרונט

• CoR brochure: EU regions and cities leading the way against climate change
• CoR opinion: A Policy Framework for Climate and Energy in the period from 2020-2030 (rapporteur: Anna-belle Jaeger PES/FR)
• CoR press release: 2030 climate-energy package - CoR urges EU to opt for a "winning trio" of binding & ambitious targets