Webinar I Climate assessment of local budgets: the case of Strasbourg, Paris & Oslo

Looking at cities’ budget can steer change by tracking expenditures that contribute or are harmful to the ecological transition. For local authorities, it is particularly at the time of the vote on their budget that it is possible to question these expenditures and to direct them as much as possible towards the climate transition. 

To meet these demands, the Institute for Climate Economics (I4CE) co-constructed with five French local authorities (cities of Paris and Lille, metropolises of Strasbourg, Lyon and Lille), plus the national environmental agency (Ademe), the Association of French Mayors (AMF), EIT Climate KIC and the association of large cities (France urbaine) a climate budget assessment framework for local authorities. This methodology freely available was presented in the webinar with the testimony of local authorities pilots that have tested its implementation.  

The aim of a budget climate assessment is to identify the climate impacts of each expenditure included in a local authority budget. It involves analyzing the budget line by line, based on a list – or taxonomy – of actions that are rated highly favourable, favourable, neutral, or unfavourable for the climate. This taxonomy is partly based on the current EU taxonomy on mitigation and adaptation. The results provide a better understanding of the coherence of expenditure with reaching climate goals, so as to make enlightened budget decisions. 

Such an assessment enables them to respond to citizens’ demands for budget transparency, to better manage their budget decisions systematically through a climate prism and to more easily identify the expenditures that could be be financed by green bonds. 

Two Cities’ partners gave testimony during the webinar on how they implemented the climate assessment, what results they have obtained and how they have dealt with other environmental issues. The city of Oslo presented its own approach on climate budget and how it can be complementary with the climate assessment of budget.     

Speakers:  

• Morgane Nicol, Program Director – Territories 
• Antoine Goxe, Project manager Territories and Climate 
• Marion Fetet, Research fellow – Territories 
• Mikael Lux, Project manager of the Climate Plan for the City and Metropolis of Strasbourg 
• Elsa Meskel, Projet manager for a low-carbon city at the City of Paris 
• Astrid S. Landstad, Climate advisor at the climate agency of the City of Oslo