SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, 15 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Minister of Ecological Transition, Fight against Climate Change and Territorial Planning of the Government of the Canary Islands, José Antonio Valbuena, and the regional vice-minister of Fight against Climate Change and Ecological Transition, Miguel Ángel Pérez, confirmed at a press conference this Monday that There are already 87 archipelago city councils that have signed their adhesion, through a plenary agreement, to the ‘Pact of Mayors for Climate and Energy’, a global alliance created by the European Union for cities committed to the fight against change climate.
“The seven island councils have also committed to this initiative, demonstrating the high degree of commitment that exists in all the Canary Islands administrations with the fight against climate change,” said the regional councilor.
Valbuena explained that of the municipalities that are already part of this pact, “more than 30 have been incorporated in the course of the current legislature, among other reasons, thanks to the different aids that this regional department has launched, with a Specific annual item of 500,000 euros in the budgets to encourage the adherence of local corporations to this proposal and that they can carry out specific action plans with which to achieve the defined objectives within a maximum period of two years “.
Currently, only the municipality of Tuineje, in Fuerteventura, remains to join this European pact.
“The Canary Islands Climate Change and Energy Transition Law establishes the obligation that local administrations have to carry out their own climate action and sustainable energy plans,” the counselor recalled.
For his part, Miguel Ángel Pérez pointed out that this is an important milestone for the Canary Islands since it meets one of the objectives established in the Declaration of Climate Emergency approved at the beginning of the legislature by the regional government and subsequently ratified unanimously, in the Parliament of the Canary Islands.
Pérez stressed the importance of “collaborating with local administrations in this ecological transition will lead us to the objective of decarbonizing the Canary Islands in 2040, as established by the regional Climate Change Law itself.”
In this sense, he highlighted the role of the Islands’ Green Office Network, which already has physical facilities in Tenerife, Gran Canaria and La Palma, but which will be extended to the rest of the islands in the coming months.
Miguel Ángel Pérez has also indicated that the signatory municipalities of the ‘Covenant of Mayors’ “share a common vision that is directly related to key aspects, such as accelerating the decarbonization of their territories, strengthening their ability to adapt to the inescapable impacts of climate change or to ensure that citizens enjoy access to safe, sustainable and affordable energy “.
MORE THAN 7,000 LOCAL AUTHORITIES
The birth of the ‘Covenant of Mayors’ occurred in 2008 in Europe with the purpose of bringing together local governments that voluntarily pledged to achieve and exceed the EU’s climate and energy targets.
The initiative not only introduced an innovative approach to climate and energy-related actions, but its success quickly surpassed all expectations to become the world’s largest movement of cities for local action on climate and energy.
It currently includes more than 7,000 local and regional authorities that harness the strengths of a multi-stakeholder movement and has the technical and methodological support of dedicated offices.
Due to the success registered in Europe with this pact, the ‘Global Compact of Mayors’ was born, which takes advantage of the experience obtained during the last eight years in Europe and which has already been implemented in 57 countries.
