The webinar revealed the essence of climate leadership and the power of community action, starting a transformative path towards climate neutrality across Europe.
More than 120 participants joined on 13 March 2024: The REMARKABLE Webinar: Building Climate Leadership Across Europe
The webinar started with the introduction of Seamus Hoyne, project coordinator: ‘The purpose of today is really to give a small taste and insight into the activities carried out in the “Remarkable Climate Leaders Project”.
Tadhg O’Briain, Deputy Head of Unit at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Energy, brought urgency to the conversation, highlighting ‘climate challenge fatigue’. He emphasised the need for a transition, stating ‘We need to ensure fairness in the process and outcomes’, which made participants uneasy.
Ethnography and community-centred approach Domen Bancic, University of Ljubljana, brought in the theme of ethnography, ‘People are at the centre of whatever we want to achieve’, Domen passionately declared, urging leaders to get involved in their communities themselves.
Speakers echoed the importance of community action in the fight against climate change. ‘There are many leaders doing good work, but it has been hidden from them because they are just doing it,’ Seamus emphasised.
Community actions throughout Europe A tour of several European regions was made, showing the efforts towards climate leadership:
Vlasta Krmelj, Regional Energy and Climate Agency, Podravje, Slovenia, shared her perspective as a director and mayor, highlighting the challenges of being at the forefront of climate action. She pointed out the importance of involving people and communities, stating: ‘People are leaders in a way, just with a slightly different point of view’. His agency’s one-stop shop service for climate adaptation issues demonstrated a proactive approach by empowering municipalities.
Miljenko Sedlar, Regional Energy and Climate Agency of North-West Croatia, highlighted the crucial role of decision-makers in climate change issues. The need to build capacity and include climate issues in everyday processes. He underlined the importance of innovation, communication and adaptability in driving change. He aptly summarised: ‘Climate leadership is based on truth and the ability to rethink, re-evaluate and redesign the whole process’.
Catherine Premat, Energy and Environment Agency, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, emphasised the importance of engaging with current and emerging leaders, fostering networks and sharing best practices. She highlighted the success of the ‘Chosen to Act’ initiative, boosting elected representatives at national and regional level.
Margarita Puente, Escan Energy Consulting, Spain, shared similar experiences, highlighting the interest and gratitude of leaders in understanding and achieving climate neutrality. In addition, she emphasised the role of the Remarkable project activities and its support to local policies and plans, fostering collaboration, advising and providing information and training.
Several municipalities in Castilla y León, Madrid and Montilla, together with Escan, have drawn up 14 roadmaps that include energy efficiency and renewable energy measures for 2030 and 2050 in order to achieve climate neutrality. The refurbishment of both residential and public buildings, the improvement of public lighting, the promotion of collective transport, the use of biofuels or green hydrogen for industrial applications or the promotion of the circular economy are some of the measures.
The Regional Energy Agency of Castilla y León (EREN), energy agencies such as APEA in Ávila and Sodebur in Burgos also participate. The programme for climate leaders includes the production of videos on these issues available on the Escan website, advice and workshops. In recent months, through the Catalan Energy Institute (ICAEN), which is Observer, several online workshops are held with new climate leaders.
At the European level, a number of webinars have been organised and Francisco de Escan has been the speaker at one of them on energy communities.
Lisa Vaughan, Tipperary Energy Agency, Ireland, stressed the role of the project in helping leaders develop the skills and confidence to deal with technical issues and communicate effectively with their communities. He also stressed the importance of networking and learning from European colleagues, as well as linking with local and regional political agendas.
Origins of the ‘Remarkable’ Climate Leaders Isabella Katsimenis, Energikontor Norr, shared her experiences from the Swedish context, emphasising the role of local leadership in driving the energy transition. ‘At the heart of it all was leadership,’ he said, echoing the sentiment of courage and strength indispensable for leaders in the fast-paced climate action landscap ‘We need those decisions to come quickly so that we can do what is necessary to make the energy transition happen,’ Isabella remarked, her words ringing with urgency and determination. He explained that the project is based on training climate leaders, stressing the importance of providing them with the support and data needed to make informed decision
Regional and local energy agencies, drivers of change Seamus emphasised the crucial role of local and regional agencies in providing leaders with sound information and facilitating agreements between stakeholders. ‘Trust and sound information go hand in hand,’ he said, stressing the need for credible data to effectively drive decision-making.
Diana Prsancova; FEDARENE, invited participants to continue to support the process and listen to the climate leaders’ podcast on Remarkable season 2.
‘With the wealth of ideas and a vibrant community,’ Seamus concluded, “the Remarkable project of climate leaders continues to drive action towards climate neutrality across Europe”.
