The Basque Country is a member of Regions4. Udalsarea 2030, the Basque network of almost 200 sustainable municipalities, is a regional cooperation network that promotes sustainability in Basque municipalities through technical assessments and a diverse range of tools and grant programs.

The initiative began in 2002, with the purpose of supporting Agenda 21, the comprehensive plan of action to be taken globally, nationally and locally by organizations of the United Nations System, Governments, and Major Groups in every area in which human impacts on the environment at the local level. Efforts are currently aimed at boosting the contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals from the local level, through the Local 2030 Agendas.

Udalsarea 2030 offers a range of services municipalities can benefit from. These include financial assistance and subsidies, a program to monitor and evaluate municipal public policies, a platform to highlight and inform about the best local sustainability practices in different topics linked to the Sustainable Development Goals (mitigation and adaptation, nature based solutions, green public procurement, water, waste management, mobility, biodiversity, green areas and air quality), and grants for innovative projects related to climate change, the circular economy, the efficient use of resources and natural heritage.

The network promotes a local sustainable development governance model among its members, based on public policy evaluation, accountability, and transparency, and it has developed various resources to facilitate this governance model, such as an online platform named e-mugi. The purpose of this platform is to centralize and organize the municipal information related to sustainability plans and policies, evaluate the degree of implementation of local sustainability plans, help municipalities obtain information.

This platform forms the Basque Local Sustainable Development Observatory, as it aggregates information on the evaluated actions of the plans, as well as the assessed municipal sustainable development indicators.

In 2020, 65 Basque municipalities evaluated and monitored their local sustainability plans and measured their contribution to the SDGs, measuring their CO2 emissions inventory. 50 municipalities of Udalsarea 2030 are taking the first steps towards the Local 2030 Agenda, 15 municipalities have a plan to adapt to climate change, 19 municipalities have mitigation plans, and throughout 2021, 30 municipalities are expected to begin developing climate and energy plans (integrating both adaptation and mitigation).

Photo source: https://twitter.com/Udalsarea2030/header_photo

Website: http://www.udalsarea21.net/paginas/ficha.aspx?IdMenu=17d05e9d-8396-438d-9530-d4a94ea60184&Idioma=es-ES https://www.euskadi.eus/tokiko-ekintza-klima-aldaketari-aurre-egiteko/web01-a2ingkli/eu/