The Energy Transition in European Municipalities. Local GoGREEN
The commitments undertaken by the Member States of the European Union involve numerous obligations and changes in governance at all levels of public administration. Municipalities, as the administrations closest to citizens and local realities, are often overwhelmed by the challenges posed by the energy transition process.
Two of the main major challenges municipalities face are long-term planning and decision-making. While local governments in large Spanish cities generally have the human and material resources required to design and plan their transition towards the decarbonisation targets set for 2050, smaller municipalities often have to make significant efforts for which they are not always adequately prepared, lacking sufficient human and financial resources. In many cases, local administrations must take on new responsibilities in addition to their day-to-day tasks, with limited technical capacity and support.
It is important to remember that municipalities are not only responsible for decarbonising their own activities, but also for promoting and facilitating the decarbonisation of all activities taking place within their territories.
Although Member States provide municipalities with certain technical resources and planning tools through regional organisations — such as the Regional Energy Agency of Castilla y León in the case discussed here — much of the work must still be carried out using local resources and personnel with deep knowledge of the economic, social and environmental context of each municipality. This includes understanding local regulations, infrastructure, social dynamics and territorial characteristics in order to develop coherent and realistic transition plans without worsening the situation of vulnerable groups.
In addition to national support programmes and regional assistance schemes, there are also European initiatives that co-finance collaborative activities between municipalities from different Member States. These programmes enable local authorities to exchange knowledge and experiences, enriching their approaches to addressing common challenges.
This is the case of the Local GoGREEN project, co-funded by the European LIFE Clean Energy Transition programme, in which the municipality of Ponferrada participates together with the Asociaciçon de Empresas de Eficiencia Energética (A3E). Alongside this Spanish municipality, the project also involves municipalities from Germany, Italy, Croatia, Slovenia and Bulgaria. Although each municipality has its own characteristics and level of progress in energy transition planning, they all share the common goal of learning from one another and exchanging experiences.
Beyond this collaborative spirit, several organisations from these countries — together with the University of Tartu (Estonia) — contribute their expertise in management, training, energy planning and environmental issues as part of the project consortium, providing technical and organisational support to municipalities.
In particular, these organisations have developed and implemented a training programme covering technical, administrative and financial aspects aimed at strengthening the capacities of municipal staff. They have also supported municipalities in the development of integrated climate and energy plans, created methodologies to prioritise decarbonisation projects, and are currently carrying out technical and economic feasibility studies for the first investment projects to be implemented by the municipalities participating in the project.
Guillermo J. Escobar, CEM and CMVP
