On 25 March 2021, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on Cohesion Policy and regional environment strategies in the fight against climate change.
The resolution considers that the transition to a climate-neutral, sustainable and circular economy must involve all stakeholders in society, particularly the private sector, social partners and citizens, including local and regional authorities.
It calls on all local and regional authorities to adopt local and regional climate strategies translating EU-level targets into concrete local targets. In addition it stresses the importance of locally-led initiatives and projects contributing to climate neutrality.
From the local perspective, the following considerations are highlighted from this resolution:
- support rural and remote areas as the most affected territories by natural or demographic drawbacks, and the transition towards climate neutrality. The objective is to avoid any increase in regional disparities and to empower workers and local and regional communities;
- innovative, inclusive and sustainable solutions to strengthen rural areas and make them more attractive as places to live and work as a key element in the implementation of the Cohesion policy;
- success of the regional environment strategies depends on robust research and innovation policies also at the local and regional levels. It encourages collaboration among local authorities, research institutions and enterprises;
- create and strengthen regional economic cycles, especially those based on biogenic raw materials from the rural and forestry economy, in order to generate sustainable growth and greener jobs.