COP18 (01/12/2012) – Pirita Lindholm, Head of the Brussels Office of the Climate Alliance, describes her organisation as a European network of local authorities concentrating on climate change issues and supporting climate change policy. She says they help municipalities to create and implement climate plans and sustainable energy action plans across sectors like urban planning and transport.

They are at COP18 to show that local governments are a very important part of these discussions, as she says that 78% of CO2 emissions come from cities. Her organisation hosted an event at COP18 called ‘Teaming Up to Meet the Targets’ with the national ministry and European Commission, showing the importance of  creating partnerships between different levels of government to help implement climate solutions.

She says they want to highlight concrete actions being taken, like the 2,000 sustainable energy action plans across Europe which aim to reduce co2 by 30% by 2020. This would go beyond the EU emissions reductions target.

She concludes by raising the example of Ghent in Belgium as very much engaged in energy transition. She describes how the city is bringing everyone together  through a local climate alliance in the city to find various ways of moving to low-carbon energy.