Polish cities organise their own climate summit

The local COP26 will take place in Lodz in February

Local governments in Poland are getting ready for the first local climate summit in the country. The COP26-style event, dedicated to implementing decentralised measures to protect the climate, will take place on 3-4 February 2022 in Lodz. Set to become a traditional annual event, the first edition will be inaugurated by Frans Timmermans, Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for the European Green Deal.

Using European Green Deal funds for local climate action

The Polish climate summit is only a few weeks away and preparations are at full speed. The program of the two-day meeting includes lectures by experts, discussion panels and workshops. Experts from renowned institutions such as the European Center for Ecohydrology, WWF Poland, the Polish branch of the Health and Environment Alliance, Greenpeace and many others will participate, alongside local representatives of metropolises and smaller towns.

One of the hottest topics on the agenda is how local governments can use funds from the European Green Deal to become greener and climate-neutral – for water retention, energy efficiency, improved design, etc.

“Last year, the whole world met at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, where we discussed the future of our planet in an era of very worrying climate changes. The conclusions of the summit are clear - we need to move away from coal and fossil fuels. We must halt the rise in air temperature and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

However, the actions of individual units are not enough. You need to build a mass movement of local leaders to counteract climate change. We, local government officials, should act together and speak with one voice. That is why we will start our joint action in Łódź during the local COP climate summit,” stated Hanna Zdanowska, mayor of Łódź, and ambassador of the European Climate Pact in Poland, as quoted on the city website.

Part of the events will be open to the public, while others will be live-streamed online only.