On February 1-2, 2023, the first meeting of partners within the CommitClimate project, was held in Riga. The aim of the project is, among others, to improve the competence of local government representatives in the area of energy transition and to develop a new simulation model for calculating carbon footprints and modeling scenarios for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the future.
Municipalities and cities are important drivers of decarbonizing energy systems. They are responsible for setting a strategic direction to increase energy efficiency, produce renewable energy, and reduce local greenhouse gas emissions. They are essential in mobilizing stakeholders and citizens to introduce energy solutions for climate neutrality. However, this potential is not yet well exploited due to a lack of skills and supportive tools.
During the meeting, which was attended by both representatives of partner organizations, research centers and municipalities, the main goals and objectives of the project were presented, as well as the planned activities and their results. Important aspects of reporting were also discussed, i.e. eligibility rules, communication and visibility requirements, procurement rules and payments. Representatives of the project's partner countries presented the state of the art of energy management and the move towards climate neutrality for municipalities in their country (including the number of municipalities, national/regional legal requirements, energy management practices, national/regional climate neutrality targets, other national initiatives, projects, existing barriers, etc.).
The representatives of the municipalities, in their presentations, focused on the local level in terms of energy management and climate neutrality aspects relevant to their municipality - data on energy production and consumption, existing energy or climate plans, ongoing or planned projects on the topic of energy and climate, and other relevant initiatives. From Poland, representatives of the municipalities of Raciechowice and Palecznica participated in the meeting.
A workshop on system dynamics modeling was held on the second day of the meeting. The issue of CO2 reduction measures that a municipality can implement on its territory was also discussed, as well as climate education measures that can be taken at the local level.
At the end of the meeting, participants had the opportunity to visit Riga Technical University, which is the largest university in Latvia and not only provides high quality education, but also conducts advanced research and ensures innovation and technology transfer, practically implementing scientific discoveries.
