Localising Agenda 2030: how regions can help meet the SDGs

The Assembly of the Regions (AER) and Friends of Europe were delighted to team up for this very topical debate. On the agenda, we discussed: Europe’s political response to COVID-19; the role of regions in responding to this crisis; the future implementation of UN SDGs; and the potential impact of the EU’s Cohesion Policy.

Pandemic — COVID-19 is a unique opportunity for Europe to rethink how we work politically

Regions were the first to step up as national governments hesitated in their pandemic response, argued event moderator Dharmendra Kanani, of Friends of Europe. For him “COVID-19 is a unique opportunity for Europe to reconnect, rethink and refresh how we work politically.” Five speakers explored the pandemic’s impact on lives and livelihoods across Europe, and its potential to accelerate the transition to sustainability.

• 11:27 the crisis is an opportunity to green the economy in all sectors, including the digital agenda (Magnus Berntsson, President of the Assembly of European Regions)
• 16:24 the crisis underlined the frontline role of regions and localities – emergency measures, lockdowns and recovery packages (Aziza Akhmouch, Head of Division for Cities, Urban Policies and Sustainable Development at the OECD)
• 54:14 cities reacted well to the pandemic, quickly building new infrastructure like cycling paths (Aziza Akhmouch, Head of Division for Cities, Urban Policies and Sustainable Development at the OECD)

Regions — Regions ensure no-one gets left behind

Regions are ideally placed to support local development. For instance, “regional actors [can] work closely with citizens and local businesses,” noted Magnus Berntsson, President of the Assembly of European Regions. Damià Calvet, Minister of Territory and Sustainability of Catalonia, agreed, adding that “regions have a holistic peripheral view and underpin socio-economic dynamism, so that no-one gets left behind”

• 12:38 “regional actors must work closely with citizens and local businesses” (Magnus Berntsson, President of the Assembly of European Regions)
• 23:08 cities and regions’ recovery plans are often bolder than national plans (Dharmendra Kanani, Friends of Europe)
• 56:08 for global agendas, cities can be more vocal than regions (Aziza Akhmouch, OECD)
• 01:00:02 regions can struggle to do their jobs, if they are stripped of competences and resources (Magnus Berntsson, President of the Assembly of European Regions)
• 01:18:09 “regions have a holistic peripheral view and underpin socio-economic dynamism, so that no-one gets left behind” (Damià Calvet, Minister of Territory and Sustainability of Catalonia)
• 01:20:31 in global forums, regions and cities have a diverse and strong voice – can push for resilience and sustainability (Damià Calvet, Minister of Territory and Sustainability of Catalonia)

SDGs — Regions are at the heart of implementing the UN SDGs

All countries should adopt a territorial approach to the SDGs, as they are powerful policy drivers for change in territories. However, local and regional governments are “not always meaningfully engaged in SDGs’ implementation, follow-up or review” warned Berntsson. This is cause for concern, as 65% of the 17 SDGs targets cannot be achieved without these partners.

• 17:21 all local thinking is closely connected to each SDG, e.g. air quality, transport and housing (Aziza Akhmouch, Head of Division for Cities, Urban Policies and Sustainable Development at the OECD)
• 23:46 one solution to sustainability problems is multi-level governance within countries (Aziza Akhmouch, Head of Division for Cities, Urban Policies and Sustainable Development at the OECD)
• 31:28 regions have key roles in the SDGs, but also need a political vision for green recovery (Raffaele Cattaneo, Minister for Environment and Climate of Lombardy (IT) and member of the Regions 4 Steering Committee)
• 01:18:34 this crisis is a great opportunity for cities, regions and cities to align fully with Agenda 2030, to work more multilaterally and to cooperate better for value-added sustainable cooperation (Damià Calvet, Minister of Territory and Sustainability of Catalonia)

EU response — EU Cohesion Policy response is closely linked to the SDGs

European regions worst affected by COVID-19 claim that the EU has abandoned them. Yet the bloc and its executive have redoubled efforts to tackle the crisis and to accelerate sustainability. The European Commission’s longer-term response includes EU investment and a green recovery budget for 2021 to 2027, increased from €1100 to €1815 bin, plus the new REACT-EU initiative totalling €58.3 bn, noted Wallis Goelen-Vandebrock, Senior Expert to the Deputy Director-General for Implementation at the European Commission Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy.

• 37:54 Lombardy citizens sometimes felt the EU had disappeared in mid-crisis (Raffaele Cattaneo, Minister for Environment and Climate of Lombardy (IT) and member of the Regions 4 Steering Committee)
• 01:07:28 today’s Cohesion Policy response has close links with the SDGs: 94% of resources to achieve 11 of the 17 SDGs (Wallis Goelen-Vandebrock, Senior Expert to the Deputy Director-General for Implementation at the European Commission Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy )
• 01:15:48 SDGs and their achievement remain the key direction for EU Cohesion Policy, at all government levels (Wallis Goelen-Vandebrock, Senior Expert to the Deputy Director-General for Implementation at the European Commission Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy)