Climate plans as a tool for promoting climate action at local level

On May 22, RSEU Climate Secretariat held a webinar for RSEU members, NGO activists, students, teachers and all those willing to take climate action at the local level. The webinar was attended by 26 people from 9 regions of the Russian Federation (St. Petersburg and Leningrad region, Murmansk region (town of Apatity), Arkhangelsk, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous District, Republic of Komi, Kaliningrad, Tyumen, Bryansk, Irkutsk) as well as Belarus.

The climate plan is a tool through which it is possible to comprehensively review and analyze climate-related aspects of one’s building /office, district, to plan and implement measures to reduce its impact on the climate, become more energy efficient, improve the comfort of one’s living and work environment, and save on utility bills in the future.

How to approach the creation of a climate plan in your organization / school / office? What should such a plan contain? What measures to reduce their influence on the climate exist? How can climate plans help a school, a university, or an office? We tried to answer all these questions during the webinar.

In 2015, Russia, along with all the rest of the world, signed an international Paris agreement on climate, which includes the development of national strategies and plans for low-carbon development, as well as national plans for adaptation to the effects of climate change. But while the climate actions of the national level are proceeding very slowly, of special importance are the actions at the regional and local level. The creation of regional and local climate action plans can contribute to the creation of a framework for implementing climate action of a larger scale, as well as sustainable urban development and the creation of safe and comfortable environment.

Expert of the RSEU climate secretariat Ekaterina Uspenskaya presented the idea of ​​climate plans and talked about the possibility of their creation and promotion in different types of organizations: in schools, offices, universities, etc. Also, the experience of climate action in other countries, the structure and stages of the development of climate plans, the nuances of creating climate plans in institutions of different types were presented.

At present, a step-by-step guide is being developed to create climate plans in different organizations (schools, universities and offices).

The webinar participants were invited to participate in the Climate Action Days, which began on May 22 and will be held until June 25. And for integrated long-term planning similar measures in the future, participants were invited to begin discussing the creation of climate plans for their institutions and organizations.

Webinar materials:

Webinar recording on YouTube

Presentation: E.A. Uspenskaya, Climate plans: a means of promoting climate action at the local level

Extras. materials:

Manual for Climate Ambassadors

Join the group of Climate Ambassadors VKontakte

Brochure "Climate change - what can regions do"

RSEU overview of the implementation of the Climate Doctrine by Russia’s regions