The Bonn talks, which started on Monday (31 May), are seeking to make advances on agreeing a new global climate treaty after the disappointing outcome of the Copenhagen climate conference last December.
Ministers and representatives of 15 regional governments from around the world met on the sidelines of the talks. They were brought together by the Climate Group to debate ways to curb global warming with representatives of leading companies and Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
The regional leaders stressed the role of regions and cities as "low-carbon technology laboratories" and argued that 50-80% of the action required to halt climate change will take place in cities and regions.
As reported by EurActiv, the EU has already gone some distance towards empowering its regions to fight climate change. For example, EU structural and cohesion funds for the 2007-2013 period earmarked EUR 100 billion to support eco-innovation, environmental risk-protection measures, clean technologies and enterprises at local level (EurActiv 10/03/09).
The conference followed on from a previous meeting during the Copenhagen climate conference, where the leaders highlighted pledges taken at regional level to combat climate change (EurActiv 17/12/09). They now agreed to meet again at the Cancún climate conference at the end of the year to review progress on those commitments.
Crucial low-carbon technologies to be developed in the regions include electric vehicles, LED lighting, renewable energy, building efficiency, waste management and smart grids, the regional leaders agreed.
De Boer remarked that business and government at regional and city level are on the front line of developing and implementing low-emission technologies.
"Their leadership, based on past experience, gives national governments clear case studies of what works in practice and their new ideas are essential to stimulate investment and innovation," he said.
Steve Howard, CEO of the Climate Group, expressed hope that the months leading up to Cancún should trigger a "race to the top" between all levels of government to guarantee progress towards a low-carbon economy.
For more stories on the role of regions in combating climate change, see EurActiv's EU Regional Policy homepage.
