Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Cities
No. 43
Spring 2015
INFO
Vibrant,
resilient
cities
www.energy-cities.eu
Editorial
Co-powering
a prosperous
energy future
and turnover of
5 biggest employers.
CONTENTS
Regenerative urban development (by World Future Council).......... p.3
Future-proof cities: Is resilience the key?................................................... p.4-6
Barcelona sets up a Fab Lab network................................................................ p.5
Energy transition, a true vitamin cocktail
for the local economy!................................................................................................... p.7
Local authorities and the COP21:
challenges and expectations.................................................................................. p.8-9
Decentralisation, devolution...Revolution................................................ p.10-11
The European Unions energy policy put to test................................. p.12-13
Twin cities and other forms of urban cooperation................................. p.14
Publications: Energy Cities recommendations......................................... p.15
2050 Local Energy Roadmaps................................................................................. p.16
The trendy word: Divestment................................................................................. p.16
@energycities
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Translation:
Nathalie Fauchadour
Director of publication:
Miriam Eisermann
INFO
Graphic design:
www.tuttiquanti.net
INFO
Guest article
Andreas Gebert
INFO
INFO
www.fablabbcn.org
www.fablabbcn.org
http://ateneusdefabricacio.barcelona.cat/en
Developing new
financing approaches
The budget cuts recently experienced by European cities have led local
players to get creative also in terms of funding solutions. Local authorities
themselves are proving innovative.
Joint procurement between cities is on
a roll. End of March, on the occasion of
a pre-COP21 meeting in Paris, about
thirty mayors from European capitals
and big cities adopted a declaration
aiming at engaging in joint public procurement (notably for clean vehicles
and dump trucks). Two other cities in
France, Brest and Dijon, opted for joint
procurement when they decided to
create their tram systems. This allowed
the municipalities to obtain a 25%
reduction when purchasing their trams:
they saved almost 36 million!
More and more cities are also offering
citizens the possibility to have a say on
their citys budget. Participatory budgeting already exists in Paris. Citizens
can submit their project ideas for their
neighbourhood or the whole city.
Co-development meetings are organised throughout the application period.
Then, city departments evaluate projects according to criteria such as general interest, the citys competences and
the investment budget. Parisians can
thus decide on the allocation of up to
5% of their citys total investment budget half a billion euros!
INFO
The recently-launched Citizenergy initiative, a European crowdfunding platform1 for renewable energy, aims to
boost citizen engagement and investment in renewable energy. The crowd-
INFO
Energy transition,
a true vitamin cocktail
for the local economy!
In its study Economic impact
of the energy transition at
local level, Energy Cities
identified mechanisms
through which energy
transition measures stimulate
the local economy.
Aberdeen
in transition:
From European
oil capital to
European
green capital?
Subsidies
2.6
33
million euros
Territorial distribution
of expenditure
76%
46.7
million euros
for 2010
Creation of
757
City of Aberdeen
The proKlima
fund of the city
of Hanover
(Germany)
COP21
=
Conference of the Parties
to the UNFCCC, 21st session
hutte
rstoc
Welcome
to Paris!
The UN Summit will be hosted by
France, giving the 28-country EU
bloc a particular reason to wish
for a successful outcome.
Bruno Levy
INFO
The
best COP21
allies: Cities
Making collective
climate action truly
operational: the
Covenant of Mayors
Over 6,200 cities use the
Covenant as a decisionmaking tool. It gives them
the framework to design
long-term roadmaps in line
with EU objectives with all
players at local level and
with support from regional
and provincial levels operating as Covenant
Coordinators. Is there a
better example of multilevel governance of climate
and energy policies?
www.eumayors.eu
#Paris2015
#COP21
INFO
In my opinion, COP21
negotiators
have to be
aware of two
conditions
necessary to
the energy
transition.
Firstly, all
actors need
to fully understand the energy issue.
While many policy-makers and citizens
have already taken the plunge and are
working on a new energy model, the
message has yet to reach many more
people! In order to trigger transformative action, it is essential to promote
greater policy awareness by the general public about the energy transition.
Secondly, we need resources that facilitate the work. In our city, through the
IMAGINE project,
we have designed Resources
an energy vision
that facilitate
and a roadmap
clearly shaping our the work
future energy
model. To implement local energy policies, funding is needed. In addition,
Spanish energy legislation has to be
radically changed if cities want to
become real energy actors with the
ability to produce green energy using
local renewable resources. Inspiration
for that comes through cross-border
cooperation and international
exchanges...
It has been
over 20 years
since the Rio
Earth Summit
in 1992. At
that time I
was an
11-year-old
child and
recall the
urgency felt
in the need to tackle climate change.
In the years since that historic event,
the world has changed dramatically,
but the need for action remains
stronger than ever.
As a Smart City and the fastest
growing city in the UK, Milton Keynes
involvement in
international colla- Strong,
boration projects
collaborative
such as the
leadership at
Covenant of
Paris 2015
Mayors and
IMAGINE 2050
can restore
show how local
faith
areas can work
together on global issues and bring
about documented, evidenced change.
The time to act is now. Strong, collaborative leadership at Paris 2015 can
restore faith in global governance.
Showing the ability to co-operate for
the greater good would also highlight
that, despite differences and challenges, change is possible.
Decentralisation,
devolution... Revolution!
In the course of the past few
decades, new players have
entered the energy management arena, in what could be
characterised as a new era of
community power. Everywhere across Europe and
beyond, local authorities have
been playing a key role, not
only as protagonists but also as
facilitators of a new energy
model.
INFO
Shutterstock
create their own energy services companies, as has been done in Bristol. The
IPPR report also shows that, on top of
lower energy bills, locally-engineered
micro-generation can deliver local jobs
and skills development opportunities,
while creating new revenue streams for
cash-strapped local governments.
Besides engaging in the supply markets, cities are championing large scale
energy efficiency solutions and
empowering citizens to take ownership
of the energy transition. Local councils
can indeed provide tailored support to
their communities for the deployment
of sustainable energy projects, acting
as catalysts of the energy transition as
they are best placed to address the
expectations of local households and
businesses. Point taken, dear Prime
minister?
See Energy Cities Proposals
Take local control of energy
supply and Eradicate local fuel
poverty at www.energy-cities.eu/
energytransition
*
www.ippr.org
INFO
Bristol
UK
Dijon
France
In 2009, as the city undertakes
work for a tramway system,
Dijon decides to develop a district heating network of about
150 GWh.
This idea leads to the urban
community taking control of heating supply and distribution and
taking ownership of the three
existing networks.
Shutterstock
At random: Three
cities reclaiming their
energy futures!
Germany
championing
civic
energy
51
of renewable energy
capacity is owned by citizens
(40%) and farmers (11%)
1,000
170
energy
More than
cooperatives created
Since 2007, about
municipalities have bought back
the grid from private companies
Munich aims for
100
2025
%
Litomice
Czech Republic
Following an in-depth territorial analysis,
Litomice found that underground heat could
be used for geothermal purposes. The city
council thus decided to build a geothermal
CHP plant set to produce 18.4 GWh of energy
per year and to feed a district heating
network.
green electricity
by
9 billion
to this objective.
4 000
homes/year.
EU energy policy
Albeit still timidly - local authorities are still mostly seen as instrumental in addressing energy efficiency
priorities - they seem to be moving upward the EU agenda! Less than two hours after the official unveiling
of its much-awaited Energy Union Strategy in February, European Commission Vice President
Maro efovi took part in a high-level roundtable to get the views of various mayors from key
European cities. The document notably points to the Commissions firm support to the
Covenant of Mayors initiative. With the Commission paying greater attention to local governments in certain areas, the recognition of local authorities as full partners of the EU institutions
may prove a not-so-distant prospect.
Work in progress
The Commission designed the Juncker Plan to kick-start the Unions economy. From an initial focus on
large investment the plan is progressively prioritising energy efficiency, notably following the call from Energy Commissioner Caete to put efficiency first. Besides,
the experts of the Energy Efficiency Financial Institutions Group (EEFIG) advocate
using the Juncker Plan to develop and aggregate energy efficiency projects, partly
echoing Energy Cities position.
Not convincing
Although the Commission acknowledges the potential of energy efficiency at the local level, it is
not the case for local energy production. For instance, the Energy Union Strategy document merely cites indigenous renewables as contributing to energy security, not elaborating much further on this point and instead putting all the focus on securing new
import routes.
Yes, but...
True, the communication on the Energy Union stresses the role of citizens, communities and cities in energy efficiency and energy demand. Yet it does not provide any
recommendation to support the decentralisation of energy production.
Almost there!
By proposing to reinforce the Covenant of Mayors initiative, the EU reaffirms its support to mayors in developing
long-term sustainable visions for their cities. Now, the
EU needs to provide tools, notably finance streams, for
communities to act on these visions.
THE
BIG
RECOMMENDATIONS
TO GUIDE AND INSPIRE EU POLICY-MAKERS
1 5
2
3 4
INCLUDE CITIES
in EU energy policies
and in international climate
negotiations
INFO
SET NEW
INVESTMENT PRIORITIES
to increase energy security
DESIGN
FUTURE-PROOF CITIES
with radically reduced
energy needs
INVOLVE ALL ACTORS
to foster
social innovation
INFO
EU policy debating
platform
European
Commissioner for
Regional Policy
Tweeter on
EU energy &
climate policies
StollmeyerAlice @StollmeyerEU
Reminder: #electricity only ~25%
of the energy we use. #Transport
also ~25%. #Heat: ~50%! =>
#letstalkHEAT #EU2030
Monica Frassoni
@monicafrassoni
@ClaudeTurmes says no
#EnergyUnion without the
#europeanparliament; without
cities; without #climate Union
A glimpse
of EU policy...
in tweets!
Executive Director
of the International
Energy Agency
European Commissioner
for Energy Union
ManagEnergy @EU_ManagEnergy
#Energy #efficiency among top priorities of new #EU Structural
Funds 14-20 #REDay2013 #euopendays
Stronger united:
INFO
www.ville-tandem.eu
INFO
RE-ENERGISING A PROGRESSIVE
CLIMATE AND ENERGY AGENDA
Joss Garman
IPPR, September
2014
As this report demonstrates, there
is strong evidence that a target for
reducing greenhouse gas pollution
by 40% by 2030 would boost net
employment, reduce fossil fuel
imports and offer other co-benefits
through improved air quality, for
example while only marginally
reducing the EUs GDP (EY 2014).
The available evidence suggests
that a target for deeper reductions
in emissions of 50%, for example
would have a greater net positive
effect on the economy, offer a higher
chance of effectively managing
climate-change risks, and be cheaper
than delaying cuts in emissions to a
later date.
September 2014
IPPR 2014
www.ippr.org/assets/media/
publications/pdf/europes-power_
Sep2014.pdf
URBAN RESILIENCE
LIFE+ projects and
European policies
URBAN
RESILIENCE:
LIFE+ projects
and European
policies
European
Commission, August
2014
Report on the 2014 LIFE+ platform
meeting that focused on three
thematic modules: resilient
infrastructure and urban planning;
waste management, recycling
and re-use; and natural resource
management and renewable energy
production, with an emphasis on
common methods and tools used in
these different areas.
4-5 April 2014,
Colombes, FR
Summary Report
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/
life/news/newsarchive2014/
august/
Regions
and Cities:
Where
Policies
and People
Meet
OECD Regional
Outlook, 2014
For a better understanding of how
cities work as engines for innovation, prosperity and growth, this
second edition of the OECD Regional
Outlook aims to help countries adapt
policies to the specificities of where
people live.
www.keepeek.com/Digital-AssetManagement/oecd/urban-ruraland-regional-development/
oecd-regional-outlook2014_9789264201415-en
From Farm to
Folk: public
support for
local and
sustainably
produced
food
Friends of the Earth
Europe, January 2015
This briefing sets out the results of
an opinion poll conducted by TNS
Opinion in 8 countries on behalf
of Friends of the Earth Europe.
Europeans were asked about their
habits and views in relation to locallyproduced food: Europeans seem to
see a lot of benefits to buying locallyproduced food, but obstacles to act
accordingly remain.
https://www.foeeurope.org/localfood-briefing-full-opinion-pollresults-140115
Financing
sustainable
energy:
Finding
your way
Shutterstock
Publications
big recommendations
to EU policy makers
www.energy-cities.eu >
Position papers
6,200
Covenant
of Mayors
signatory cities
Over
6,000
590
30
Exchanging know-how
370
18
good practices
currently in our
public database
700
10
120
participants in
our study tours
Over
seminars to IMAGINE
the future of our cities
www.energy-cities.eu/imagine
Board of Directors
11
11
city
representatives
from
countries
ily
Da
Daily laughs
7
ing
om
inc
45
%
e-mail
33
Board
meetings
per year
66 %
Average
41 ag
e
Daily caffeine
intake
YEARS
INFO
Rodho