Our member Andries Gryffroy was part of the Committee of the Regions (CoR) delegation to the UNFCCC COP 26 on climate change that took place from 31 October to 12 November in Glasgow, Scotland.
The CoR delegation advocated a strong regional and local dimension in global climate governance and greater involvement in the UN decision-making process.
Despite being at the forefront of the fight against climate change, local and regional authorities are not fully involved in the policymaking processes and frequently encounter difficulties in accessing direct funds necessary to carry out the plans and receive technical assistance.
Mr Gryffroy, who is also a Member of the Flemish Parliament had the occasion to represent the Committee of the Regions as well as the Local Governments and Municipal Authorities (LGMA) constituency in several high-level meetings and ministerial consultations.
Following Mr Gryffroy’s intervention in the COP Plenary, where he called for local decision making and multilevel collaboration to be formally recognized, and thanks to the collective lobbying efforts with other organizations, local and regional authorities have been referenced in the final text as key actors for achieving climate goals.
Mr Gryffroy and the EA group as a whole remain committed to strengthening the bottom-up approach to climate governance and work to enhance the role of regions at next year’s COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.
