Fifth day of COP21.
Both the mayors of the three Basque capitals (Juan María Arbuto, Gorka Urtaran and Eneko Goia) as well as those of Legazpi (Koldobike Olabide) and Amurrio (Iosune Iribaien) and the Basque Minister for the Environment (Ana Oregi) also attended the COP21. Last Friday the 4th they participated in the Summit of Local Charges for the Climate at the Bourget premises. Previously, ten Basque municipalities (Amurrio, Areatza, Balmaseda, Bilbao, Donostia/San Sebastián, Durango, Errenteria, Legazpi, Tolosa and Vitoria-Gasteiz) have signed the “Alliance of Mayors” (Compact of Mayors), the largest cooperative effort in the World for the fight against climate change), led by the organizations C40, ICLEI and the Union of Cities and Local Governments (UCGL) with the support of UN-Habitat.
Oregi remarked that the local administrations are the best prepared to fight against climate change, due to their proximity to the different actors and the level of direct action and, consequently, their best knowledge of the local idiosyncrasy.
The mayors of Madrid and Barcelona were also present. Ana Colau expressed her wish to reduce Barcelona’s emissions by 40% compared to the level of 2005. They demanded financing and vindicated the fundamental role of cities in the fight against climate change due to their large emissions.
