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Ecofys launches European Climate Menu Project

The Climate Menu
At the Rio Conference in 1992 the important role of local and regional authorities in addressing climate issues was recognised. Although in recent years climate issues have received more and more attention, local authorities still have difficulties with materialising climate policy. This is certainly related to the fact that climate policy requires an integrated approach, covering various policy areas. Dutch government agency Novem asked Ecofys and PricewaterhouseCoopers to develop a tool, which would address these difficulties. This resulted in the so-called climate menu. The climate menu refers to a table of targets for local authorities. The targets are defined according to three levels of ambition and cover 8 themes, ranging from traffic and transport to agriculture. Since the introduction of the tool in 2001 almost two hundred Dutch municipalities have started using the climate menu for formulating their climate policies. Based on the widespread adoption of the climate menu in the Netherlands, a successful trial in the UK and positive results from a similar tool in Germany the European Union decided to have a European version developed.

European initiative
As part of the Altener programme of the EU, Ecofys has initiated the European Climate Menu (ECM) project. At a kick-off meeting this week Ecofys will start listing national targets, legislation, practice and experiences. Together with participating municipalities and energy agencies from eight countries Ecofys will start drawing up national climate menus that will ultimately result in a European Climate Menu and a project database. In addition to providing these tools Ecofys will help the project participants use the climate menu by guiding them through a step-by-step process. Local authorities following the ECM process approach will profit from clear ambitions and targets, shortened decision making processes, access to a knowledge database and a coherent climate policy that is integrated in all policy areas.

Wanted: interested partners!
Ecofys invites regional and local authorities and public agencies to join the ECM project. Ecofys has observed that certain twinning relations between European towns and cities have become professional enough for the joint development and implementation of complex and long-term projects. Therefore Ecofys specifically encourages Twinning Partners to join the project*. Dutch municipalities could disseminate their experiences with the climate menu and support their Twinning Partners in formulating an effective climate policy.

Current project partners
In addition to Ecofys the following parties participate in the project: municipality Cardedeu (Spain), energy agency Sofena (Bulgaria), energy agency Potenza (Italy), environmental organisation Värmland (Sweden), municipality Maastricht (Netherlands), municipality Gelsenkirchen (Germany), South Cambridgeshire district council (UK), municipality of Murowana Goslina (Poland), municipality Pniewy (Poland) and Climate Alliance (global).

Note for the editorial staff:

Ecofys
Ecofys (www.ecofys.com) is a leading company in the field of renewable energy and energy efficiency. More than 150 employees in six countries deliver integrated sustainable energy solutions. Ecofys is part of the Econcern group (www.e-concern.com), with the mission "a sustainable energy supply for everyone".

For more information please contact:
Drs. Ellen Hendrix
Marketing Manager Ecofys
T: + 31 (0)30 – 280 83 19
E: e.hendrix@ecofys.nl

*Interested Partners can contact:
Ir. Peter Out
Project Manager European Climate Menu
T: + 31 (0)30 – 280 8314
E: p.g.out@ecofys.nl