The Ukrainian Municipal Forum: Energy Efficiency Day
28.07.2021
The ХVІ Ukrainian Municipal Forum which takes place in Odesa continues on July 28. The mayor of Kyiv and the chairman of the Association of the Ukrainian Cities (AUC) Vitali Klitschko opened Day Two of the Forum themed From Energy Efficiency to European Green Deal. “Day Two is dedicated to energy efficiency because achieving energy efficiency target is high on the priority list of local governments. It is estimated that Ukrainians consume five times more energy than Europeans. This is one of the main concerns for citizens. Besides, municipalities face very high energy bills. Today’s natural gas price has been raised by Naftogaz to ₴15 per m³ and this poses a serious problem both for heat and power service providers and residents,” remarked the AUC chairman.
He added that Ukraine along with the rest of the world confronts the harmful environmental impact of air pollution. “This is why at the Forum we have created a platform where community leaders, advocates, civic activists, members of the parliament and the government can discuss the energy efficient approaches,” said Klitschko.
He thanked the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit and the team working to promote energy efficiency and implement the EU Energy Efficiency Directive in Ukraine for their active support of the Forum initiative. “Having your support the local governments have already launched dozens of energy saving projects. This is why we are set to further pursue our successful cooperation aimed to achieve our common goal implementing the innovative approaches which help reduce energy consumption and emissions of air pollutants and gases. Ukraine must adopt the best European environmentally friendly practices and we are working on that. I am saying thank you to our partners for their support and assistance! And I am always glad to share Kyiv’s most successful saving energy practices,” remarked Vitali Klitschko.
The Ukrainian Municipal Forum is traditionally held once a year by the AUC and offers a networking platform for open dialogue between all stakeholders aimed to improve the lives of communities. This year’s convention brought together more than 500 community leaders, as well as Andreas Kiefer, the Secretary-General of Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, Georg Milbradt, the German government’s special envoy for the Ukrainian decentralisation reform agenda and Viola von Cramon-Taubadel, member of the European Parliament.
The first day of the Forum was themed Local Democracy and Open Governance Day. The plenary exchanged ideas on how to enhance citizens’ involvement in local decision-making, increase participation of women in politics and foster human rights at the local level. Day Two of the Forum (July 28) is dedicated to energy efficiency and themed From Energy Efficiency to European Green Deal. The Forum’s Day Three is themed Day of Dialogue between the community leaders and the national authorities. Dmytro Razumkov, Speaker of the Parliament will deliver an address. The participants are expected to submit their suggestions to the national government on pressing problems of local communities and acceleration of local government reform in Ukraine.