ECR Member and President of the Silesia region in Poland, Jakub Chełstowski was a key speaker in a debate on the European Green Deal "Achieving Climate Targets (2030) and supporting the Green Transition at a local and regional level, which took place on 10 November as part of the Commission for Environment, Climate Change and Energy (ENVE) in the European Committee of the Regions. In his intervention, he focused on the need for good cooperation at all levels of government in order to reduce carbon emissions.
Mr Chełstowski took the floor in the debate on achieving climate targets and pointed out that in order for the energy transition to be successful there must be a spirit of cooperation and coordination, not only between regional governments and the European Commission, but also with the central governments.
The Marshal underlined that the green transition cannot leave smaller or less wealthy areas behind. "European investments cannot be applied exclusively to large cities; small to medium sized towns cannot be forgotten." Mr Chełstowski also discussed the importance of investing in heating, renewable energy sources and green public transport, stressing the need for European unity and cooperation in achieving climate goals as most regions will lack the funding needed to carry out Green Deal goals.
"The Just Transition Fund is a good idea, but the measures proposed in it don't take into account the diverse needs of regions and its goals are overly ambitious in the context of the resources it allocates to local communities.", said the ECR Group Coordinator in the ENVE Commission.
Earlier this autumn, the European Commission announced a new framework to reach its goal of reducing emissions and counteracting the effects of climate change. Specifically, this includes reducing emissions by 55% by the year 2030 and embracing sustainability in all sectors of life more broadly. By next summer, the Commission will present legislative proposals that will illustrate how Europe can move toward sustainability and emissions reductions in a substantive way. Some of these policies will include: a revision and expansion of the EU Emissions trading system, raising CO2 standards for road vehicles and the adaption of the Effort Sharing Regulation among other measures.
The debate featured other key representatives and experts from various EU institutions, including those representing the German Presidency of the Council to discuss sustainability, the EU Green Deal and the Just Transition Fund.