Municipalities can overcome Europe’s fossil-fuel addiction

Europe’s municipalities are developing social and ecological solutions to the energy crisis. They need more power to their elbows.

by Lavinia Steinfort and Andrew Cumbers in Social Europe

Europe’s fossil-fuel addiction is painfully clear amid the global energy crisis and the unfolding horrors in Ukraine. Yet municipalities across the continent have great potential to tackle climate change and energy dependencies. Using this potential will however require funds, power and know-how—to put the interests of residents over corporate revenues.

In response to inaction by their national governments, progressive European municipalities have been making the most of their limited powers and resources to further a fair, clean and democratic energy transition. Evidence of municipal practices gathered by the mPOWER project, which has been facilitating peer learning among more than 100 European local authorities, shows that towns and cities have been developing successful forms of co-operation with residents.

Read the full in article in Social Europe