{"id":6208,"date":"2022-11-14T15:53:18","date_gmt":"2022-11-14T15:53:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/redagenda2030.es\/noticia\/local-governments-key-players-in-achieving-the-goals-of-the-2030-agenda\/"},"modified":"2022-11-14T15:53:18","modified_gmt":"2022-11-14T15:53:18","slug":"local-governments-key-players-in-achieving-the-goals-of-the-2030-agenda","status":"publish","type":"noticia","link":"https:\/\/redagenda2030.es\/en\/noticia\/local-governments-key-players-in-achieving-the-goals-of-the-2030-agenda\/","title":{"rendered":"Local Governments: key players in achieving the goals of the 2030 Agenda"},"content":{"rendered":"

Meeting the goals of the 2030 Agenda \u201cwill be achieved by all of us, or it will not be achieved at all\u201d, said the FEMP Secretary General, Carlos Daniel Casares, this morning in his address at the opening of the Municipal Leadership and the 2030 Agenda Conference. At the halfway point of the implementation period\u2014a time when progress on the SDGs is not moving as fast as needed\u2014Casares defended co-governance and collaboration between public administrations and civil society organisations\u2014\u201cin line with SDG 17\u201d, he said\u2014and argued for revisiting the development concepts of recent decades and for \u201crethinking public policies\u201d. In this context, he stated that \u201clocal commitment to delivering the 2030 Agenda is clear\u201d, as demonstrated by the Local Governments that, throughout this time and right now, \u201chave been leaders in generating responses for the 2030 Agenda\u201d. <\/p>\n

This local commitment and the leading role that City Councils, Provincial Councils, Cabildos and Consells have had\u2014and continue to have\u2014has been described by the President of the Barcelona Provincial Council, N\u00faria Mar\u00edn, as \u201cdecisive\u201d in achieving the SDGs. Mar\u00edn, host of the event, insisted that it is Local Governments that \u201care taking the initiative at a key moment for humanity and the planet\u201d, and she highlighted the importance of unity and multi-level governance to move forward, because that \u201cis how we must push ahead to face the challenges we have\u2014rowing and working together\u201d. As she stated, \u201calthough we have made great progress, we have to step on the accelerator to reach the finish line\u201d <\/p>\n

The opening of the event also featured remarks by the President of the Network and Mayor of Palma, Jos\u00e9 Hila; and the Secretary for Local Governments and Relations with Aran of the Government of Catalonia, David Rodr\u00edguez.<\/p>\n

Jos\u00e9 Hila, President of the Network of Local Entities for the 2030 Agenda and Mayor of Palma, highlighted that the 2030 Agenda is tailor-made for Local Governments because \u201cit is what we know how to do locally: transform reality, always counting on our citizens, businesses and organisations, associations in the city, the town, the municipality\u201d. In his view, the 2030 Agenda is successful because its goals align with what \u201chas always been worked on from City Councils\u201d. \u201cNow it provides us with a methodology, an international agreement\u201d, he noted. <\/p>\n

David Rodr\u00edguez, Secretary for Local Governments and Relations with Aran of the Government of Catalonia, referred to the need to transform the world from municipalities \u201cbecause all the SDGs have targets that directly appeal to local responsibilities\u201d, and he set the goals of achieving countries \u201cwith human rights\u2014fairer, more prosperous, greener and feminist\u201d. Rodr\u00edguez recalled that over the next four years the Government of Catalonia will allocate \u20ac80 million for Local Entities to develop mitigation and adaptation actions in response to the climate crisis\u201d. <\/p>\n

Nearly three hundred attendees and speakers<\/strong><\/p>\n

More than thirty speakers and two hundred local leaders from across the country are taking part in the conference being held at the Paraninfo of the Barcelona School of Industrial Engineering. In the programme for this first day, attendees were able to learn first-hand about the work of several Local Governments in prioritising the 2030 Agenda in local policies, in a roundtable moderated by the FEMP Secretary General, Carlos Daniel Casares. <\/p>\n

Jos\u00e9 Hila, President of the Network and Mayor of Palma, drew attention to the environmental goals that tend to dominate when talking about the 2030 Agenda: \u201cit seems we only talk about the environment, but there are other important goals\u2014the social ones\u201d, goals that lead to work against inequalities, and for health and wellbeing. The President of the Network referred to public transport in Palma, designed with environmental objectives and also social objectives: the right to sustainable mobility and reducing inequalities through access to public transport. Hila advocated citizen participation to achieve the goals; \u201cit is important to convey enthusiasm to citizens\u201d so that the population can feel that it \u201cmakes the city their own\u201d. <\/p>\n

The Mayor of Tangier, Mounir Lymouri, President of the Association that brings together the municipalities of this country. In his address, he stated that \u201cthe Tangier Communal Council is developing an Action Plan through to 2027 with a participatory approach to achieve the SDGs\u201d. In this regard, he noted that, although some indicators have improved, it is still necessary to completely end hunger in the world, improve living conditions for women and children, protect the environment and put an end to contagious diseases, among other goals. <\/p>\n

For her part, Olga Arnau, President of the Federation of Municipalities of Catalonia and Mayor of Vilanova i la Geltr\u00fa, insisted on the need to move to action and achieve \u201creal, effective and tangible\u201d results, and to bring milestones down to earth not only in rural areas but also to \u201cmake the national and global leap\u201d. Arnau added that the 2030 Agenda is an opportunity for all administrations to \u201crethink and reconfigure our budgets strategically\u201d, and she advocated achieving effective public-private partnerships \u201cto reach the maximum number of milestones\u201d. <\/p>\n

Laia Bonet, Deputy Mayor of Barcelona for the 2030 Agenda, Digital Transition, Sports and Territorial and Metropolitan Coordination, stated that the 2030 Agenda sets out, for the first time, an agenda for the entire planet, \u201cnot only for developed countries, but global\u2014for all governments, including local ones\u2014and aimed at all citizens\u201d. Bonet, who noted that \u201cthe pandemic has shaken our awareness of what is important\u201d, argued that the various policies to be developed should be connected, \u201cseeking coherence between them to avoid progress in some areas and setbacks in others\u201d. <\/p>\n

Olga Arnau responded to the question \u201cand now what?\u201d by calling for criteria to measure lines of progress towards 2030. And after 2030? \u201cContinuity,\u201d said the Mayor of Tangier, \u201cbecause it does not end in 2030.\u201d Hila said that territorial problems will not have been fully resolved by 2030, and he defended continuing to focus on ending structural imbalances such as territorial ones, as well as sustainability and reducing inequalities.<\/p>\n

The other participant at the table, Laia Bonet, Deputy Mayor of Barcelona, also noted that \u201ceven if we have not managed to achieve the goals of the 2030 Agenda, we will have learned how to work\u201d, and from that point onwards it will be possible to have \u201ca different way of working\u201d, with shared overarching goals\u2014probably social, environmental and economic sustainability\u2014and medium-term goals, specific to each immediate context and to be developed by the respective governments.<\/p>\n

The contribution of other stakeholders<\/strong><\/p>\n

The President of the Spanish Olympic Committee, Alejandro Blanco; the Director of the Mujeres Foundation, Marisa Soleto; the Director of Strategy at Correos, Enrique Cervera; and the Vice President of the Spanish Service-Learning Network, Mar Cruz, explained their organisations\u2019 experiences in progressing towards achieving the goals set by the Agenda.<\/p>\n

Alejandro Blanco referred to the SDGs in sport which, beyond results or sporting practice\u2014whether Olympic or professional sport\u2014are linked to other issues such as education, culture, health, innovation, integration, work, or the industry associated with sport. For all these reasons, he said, \u201cwe could not be indifferent to sustainability\u201d, and, in this line, \u201cin 2019 we developed a sustainability model\u2014how to apply the SDG model both internally and externally\u201d\u2014a model that was later audited and that today serves as a model within the International Olympic Committee. It can also be applied in the 60 federations and 70,000 clubs \u201cwithin the Spanish Olympic Committee\u201d. If we are able to convince those federations how they should manage internal operations\u2014where we have already taken significant steps\u2014we will have made great progress, beyond sporting practice.\u201d \u201cIn 2019 we were the first Olympic Committee in the world to sign the first Sports for Climate Action commitment,\u201d he said, and he referred to the major challenge of reducing the carbon footprint by 50% by 2030 and to zero by 2050\u2014a major challenge that will be difficult to achieve if we are not able to raise awareness that it is also necessary in the field of sport. In his address he also referred to the agreement signed with the FEMP, the Olympic Forest and the seals made available by the Spanish Olympic Committee. <\/p>\n

Soleto, for her part, specified that the main challenges for her organisation are its own SDG, number 5, but she added others of a social nature (eradicating poverty, reducing inequalities), also of a green nature (sustainability in its projects and actions) and, in line with SDGs 16 and 17, goals related to transparency and good governance and partnerships in the context of services and work with women users in the area of entrepreneurship and other lines.<\/p>\n

Enrique Cervera then explained that Correos is present in every corner of Spain but that \u201cthe more we do, the more we feel how much we still have left to do\u201d. Cervera explained the actions in environmental matters and, above all, the presence in small municipalities so that \u201cwe help make life more comfortable\u201d in those rural areas with small populations, by delivering postal and parcel services, financial services, and visibility through the Correos Market platform for products made in small towns that can be bought online\u2014\u201cand that is also sustainability\u201d. <\/p>\n

The Vice President of the Spanish Service-Learning Network, Mar Cruz, explained the line of her organisation\u2019s projects, in which students participate by combining what they learn in the classroom with actions in the community. In line with the SDGs, they propose solutions to solve problems and, in doing so, turn the city into a learning forum, seeing themselves as active agents in achieving the SDGs, internalising them day by day and demonstrating themselves as responsible people. <\/p>\n

Organised by the Network of Local Entities for the 2030 Agenda, of the FEMP, with the collaboration of the Barcelona Provincial Council and the Secretary of State for the 2030 Agenda, they are being held in the Paraninfo of the School of Industrial Engineering from today, Monday the 14th, until Wednesday the 16th. The 3rd Assembly of this FEMP Network will bring the meeting to a close at midday on Wednesday. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Watch the first day again here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n