On October 20th, 2009, at the invitation of the EU Committee of the Regions (CoR), our Association participated in a seminar, organized by the CoR Commission for Sustainable Development, in Toruń. The main topic of the seminar was: "Adaptation to climate change: local and regional policy in the European and national context".
It was one of the key, strategic European meetings, preceding the COP15 United Nations Climate Change Conference Copenhagen 2009. It was also a forum for discussions and exchange of experience for countries and regions on the climate-energy package implementation process.
There were three technical sessions:
- Strategic links between climate change adaptation and mitigation: the local and regional perspective in the run-up to the Copenhagen negotiations;
- Framework conditions for the promotion of local and regional investment in the mitigation and adaptation projects;
- Local and regional contribution to the 2020 targets: best practice in the field of forest management.
Director of PNEC, Maria Stankiewicz, during the second session on: "Framework conditions for the promotion of local and regional investment in the mitigation and adaptation projects", gave a presentation on PNEC’s previous achievements and on our new and future responsibilities and challenges, resulting from undertaking the duty of a Supporting Structure to the Covenant of Mayors.
In the presentation, the leading role of PNEC in the following areas was underlined:
- promoting the concept of Covenant of Mayors among Polish self-governments, as an effective mean of mitigating the climate change effects and stimulating pro-ecological and energy efficient investments at the local level;
- facilitating the process of Polish self-governments adhesion to the Covenant of Mayors;
- providing Polish self-governments with the necessary know-how and practice concerning the elaboration of the Sustainable Energy Action Plans.
