PES Manifesto

Green Cities: More local answers to global problems, please!

Published Friday, May 30, 2008 at 16:09
by Editor (1669 views and 1 comments)

Claudio Martini, member of the PES Group in the CoR (Committee of the Regions) and President of the Tuscany Region in Italy, put forward his priorities for the PES manifesto! For him climate change is the most challenging topic to be addressed.

Which of the sessions of the PES Group meeting are you looking most forward to?

Claudio Martini (CM): In my opinion climate change is the biggest challenge for government right now and that’s why I am particularly interested in the debate on Save our planet. There is no doubt that we will face very serious problems in the future. I think it is highly important that we not only focus on the environmental problems caused by climate change, but also on the social, economic and geopolitical issues which will follow. Often environmental questions are seen as separate from other political areas, when they are really not. For every policy we need an environmental dimension.

What is the most important thing local government can do to improve the environment?

CM: Local and regional governments play an important role when it comes to solving environmental problems. The socialist political tradition is often much focused on the state – but Europe’s socialists and social democrats should open their eyes to the local dimension, especially when it comes to fighting climate change. Global warming has great impact at the local level: when a flood makes people homeless, it is the local community who has to deal with the disaster first hand. If you look at the Lisbon Strategy of the EU or the UN Millennium Development Goals the role of local government is not prioritized. We need to focus more on the local level.

What do you recommend as the three top priorities for the PES manifesto?

CM: If I were to choose three key words for the PES manifesto I would say water, food and energy. Water is the oil of the future – in many countries, even developed countries, there is a lack of safe and clean water. Regarding food the problem is obvious: right now we experience a crisis with rising food prices and famine in the developing world. Regarding energy we need to come up with an alternative solution to oil – very soon. Otherwise, we will not be able to achieve the Kyoto objectives – and we will fail terribly in saving our planet.

This interview was made during the Turin congress organised by the PES Group in the CoR.

Do you agree with Claudio Martini when he defends that more power should be delegate to local governments so they can tackle environmental issues? And do you think that the local governments have the necessary tools to address this question? Give us your ideas!

Tags: climate change, environment