EU Energy Commissioner Kadri meets the Energy Cities Board

12 months since the launch of the EU’s Green Deal was an
ideal time for EU Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson to meet with the Energy
Cities’ board to discuss the Renovation Wave, the energy transition and how
citizens, cities and the European Commission can drive the change we need
together.

As a former advisor to the Mayor of Tallin, Commissioner
Kadri made it clear that she understood the ambitions and constraints of cities
and was determined that the European Commission would be a reliable partner for
cities.

The hour-long discussion between Commissioner Kadri and the board
of Energy Cities covered a number of important domains and priorities. One positive
point was her clear support and recognition of energy cooperatives as key to
the energy transition.

Another of the top priorities discussed by the Commissioner was ensuring
the necessary technical assistance to cities to support the scale-up of
building renovations as part of the Just Transition Fund and the recovery fund.

“We
need strong support for local governments to achieve our communication on the
renovation wave and action plan to double the renovation every year by 2030. I
would like to highlight EPCs uniform across Europe and to change them so that
they are more informative,” said Commissioner Kadri. “Of course, but not all
the public owners to have sufficient funds. So second important aspect is
reinforced accessible and targeted funding to cover the investment needs and we
estimate that the cost for this level across Europe will be approximately 275
billion a year.

The
meeting was an excellent example of give and take between the Mayors and the
Commissioner. Priorities, concerns and the ambitious plans of many cities were
shared.

One
‘hot’ topic discussed was the decarbonisation of heat. In Heidelberg it is
possible to completely decarbonise their district heating network in just three
years. While the deputy mayor of Delft, Stephen Brandligt, raised the potential of hybrid heat pumps
to deliver significant emissions cuts in the short term while renovations are
rolled out across the broader building stock.

Underlining
just how long-term and ambitious a target it is to decarbonise heat the
Commissioner said she expected that ‘decarbonising heat will be a major topic
for the coming decades.”

On
the political front it was underlined that cities, and Energy Cities, can play
a key role in helping cities within less progessive countries to decarbonise.

For
her part the Commissioner made it clear that achieving the European Green Deal
climate targets was a matter far beyond just the energy portfolio. It required
breaking down silos and greater collaboration between Transport, Environment,
Agriculture, Regional Funds and Health.

The post EU Energy Commissioner Kadri meets the Energy Cities Board appeared first on Energy Cities.

Fuente: ENERGY CITIES
Enlace a la noticia: EU Energy Commissioner Kadri meets the Energy Cities Board