More specifically, Mr Piebalgs referred to the UN Millennium Development Goals, which notably aim at eradicating poverty and ensuring environmental sustainability, saying that local authorities were « key » to achieving these objectives as they are generally « better organised than national governments, ready to learn and moving faster ». He also mentioned synergies with the Sustainable Energy for All initiative, which now has a permanent secretariat and also seeks to combat poverty by guaranteeing prosperity for all through accessible, clean and efficient energy.
Energy is indeed a crucial component of building a prosperous society and quality of life concerns have always been at the heart of Energy Cities’ members’ priorities. In this context, Energy Cities’ President Eckart Würzner praised the benefits of adopting efficient processes and approaches – rather than single projects or solutions – that rely on strong democratic bases and are supported by long and medium-term strategies.
To ensure the success of the « energy transition », sustainability issues also need to be approached through the wider lens of economic prosperity, but also resource flow management, urban planning, financial engineering, local stakeholders engagement. To see first-hand how this can be done in practice, have a look at 30 Energy Cities’ proposals for the energy transition of cities and towns.
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