News

05.07.2024,

Climate policies are an opportunity to invest in improved urban environments and local community development

The Mayors Speak conference showcased solutions for local investment in sustainable energy, but also posed a number of questions for the new NECP.

For the third consecutive year, the "Mayors Speak" discussion forum was held in Gabrovo and online, dedicated to the involvement of local authorities in the implementation of sustainable energy projects. The event, organised by the Energy Efficiency Center EnEffect, the Municipal Energy Efficiency Network EcoEnergy, a number of energy agencies and centres and courtesy of the City of Gabrovo, is part of the side programme of the 61st session of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which will bring together representatives from more than 150 countries in Sofia at the end of July to prepare a special report on Climate and Cities. 

"We need to understand that without the participation of cities, the successful implementation of climate policies is impossible," said Dragomir Tzanev, Executive Director of EnEffect. "Over 60% of investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy, as well as over 75% of adaptation measures are implemented in cities. Nobody knows better than local authorities what is effective and what is not, but they still lack the autonomy to implement their own policies."

The main theme of the conference was the link between the Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP) and local development models, emphasizing that to be successful, this plan must channel investor interest towards local business models and encourage local communities to actively participate in the energy system.  

"It is obvious that, especially with the new more ambitious targets, we cannot rely on public funds alone," said Deputy Energy Minister Krasimir Nenov. "We need to attract private investment, and local authorities have a major role to play in this." 

He added that the Energy and Climate Plan was ambitious but realistic, aiming for a share of over 30% of energy from renewable sources in final consumption and nearly 44% for heating and cooling. "It envisages the establishment of energy service centres to facilitate all stakeholders in terms of obtaining information and facilitating the processes of issuing the relevant permits," the deputy minister added.

"We are extremely proud that Gabrovo Municipality is home to the first public-private energy community in Bulgaria," Gabrovo Mayor Tanya Hristova said in comments. "However, our goals are much higher - in the mission for 100 zero-emission and smart cities, we are already working towards zero-energy urban areas. This is what the integrated approach is all about," she added. 

The second day of the conference opened with the topic of energy cooperatives, and in addition to the already implemented project in Gabrovo, the new, even more ambitious project in Burgas was presented, in which every Bulgarian citizen can join through the website of Energy Office - Burgas. The programme continued with a round table on "Approaches and ways to fight energy poverty", which raised for discussion the importance of renovation of multi-family residential buildings as a leading tool to fight energy poverty. The forum also addressed key topics such as new financial instruments for municipalities, technological solutions for energy management and building automation, smart building readiness assessment and modern energy efficiency training methods, more information can be found on our website.

The conference also launched a discussion on a joint declaration of Bulgarian municipalities on the need to provide local authorities with the necessary resources and powers to implement their own policies and attract investment in sustainable urban development solutions. The declaration will be finalized during the international conference "Climate Policies as an Opportunity for Investment in Urban Development" organized by the Ministry of Environment and Water on 30 July 2024 in Sofia, in order to be presented to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Presentations from the two-day forum can be viewed here.