​On 23 April, Kirklees Cllr Andrew Cooper took part in the European Dialogue on non-state climate action organised by the European Committee of the Regions and the European Economic and Social Committee.

The Conference is part of the Talanoa Dialogue, an initiative promoted by the Fiji Presidency at the last COP which aims to involve non-party stakeholders in climate negotiations and see how they can help countries implement more ambitious nationally-determined contributions.

"The importance of non-state actors is growing at each UN conference on climate change", said Cllr Cooper, adding that "the success of the functioning of the Paris agreement will depend on the inclusion of local authorities which can be mobilised quicker and are closest to citizens."