Local and regional governments as service providers

It will be "impossible to achieve the EU climate goals without sustainable public services provided by local government," said MEP Jean-Paul Denanot at a meeting organised by the European Parliament Working Group on public services, on 22 September, “COP21: What is at stake for public services?”. This statement clearly highlights to what extent the fight against climate change, public services provision and the role of local governments as public services providers, are interconnected.  

Municipalities and regions play a key role in the fight against climate change, for instance, by reducing the energy consumption in public buildings, by encouraging the use of sustainable transport systems (electric buses) or by cooperating with universities when developing low-carbon solutions. This is why the EU climate policy should include environmental objectives in the public procurement rules. However this new approach won’t be possible without local government involvement.

As participants in the meeting, we took this opportunity to reiterate our aim to integrate sustainability requirements on public procurement to contribute to the reduction of polling emissions because, as recalled by MEP Denanot, there will be "no green policy without green public services."