From January 23 to 27, teams and representatives of institutions allied with the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy (GCoM) participated in a training week in Brussels. This event, promoted by the GCoM global secretariat, aimed to discuss the Alliance’s paths, experiences, and ambitions for the coming year.
The week, titled “GCoM Open House & CRF Academy,” provided dialogues on the Common Reporting Framework, the attribution of recognition medals to cities, and the newest pillar that entered the implementation phase—the Energy Access and Energy Poverty Pillar. Additionally, topics on financing climate projects were discussed.
The participants from GCoM Americas included Project Coordinator Hélinah Cardoso, International Helpdesk Advisor Rodrigo Führ, and North America Specialist Colin Maddock. The European Union funded the team’s participation.
Hélinah Cardoso, the coordinator of GCoM Americas, highlighted the presence of people from various regions of the world who work daily to strengthen cities in the climate agenda.
“The GCoM Americas team is in Brussels, dialoguing and learning from other regions of the world about how cities can advance the implementation of concrete climate actions. We had many productive meetings with our partners, such as Mercociudades, ICLEI, United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), and other regions like Asia, Southern Africa, the Middle East, and North Africa. What we hope is that more and more cities connect with each other to share good practices and solutions,” stated Hélinah.
For International Helpdesk Advisor Rodrigo Führ, the space allowed for getting to know and exchanging experiences with people from all over the world, broadening the understanding of other regions’ challenges and working methods.
“It is a very rich experience because we learn from the advances and challenges of our colleagues, and we have an opportunity to share the reality we face in the Americas and the regional advances achieved by our cities and partners. Additionally, we had the opportunity to engage in technical discussions presented by researchers and the global secretariat team, highlighting the constant need for the accelerated implementation of climate projects and the availability of more funding sources for the Americas region,” he pointed out.
One of the experiences included a technical visit to the city of Leuven on January 26. During this visit, participants learned about Leuven’s comprehensive climate actions and the commitments to neutralize greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
