He called on national governments gathered in Chișinău, for a renewed commitment to the effective implementation of social rights through multilevel governance and for ambitious and forward-looking strategies and measures that empower local and regional authorities to strengthen policies on adequate housing and environmental policies in the years to come.
Environmental degradation, climate change and pollution undermine human rights, including social rights, creating an unequal pattern of living conditions and weakening social cohesion. Green governance must guide action at all levels, ensuring that local and regional authorities have the legal powers, responsibilities and resources necessary to deliver tangible results at the level closest to citizens.
Access to adequate housing is a fundamental social right intrinsic to human dignity and must remain a core priority of public policy at all levels. Housing policy and environmental protection are closely connected: sustainable, energy-efficient and climate-resilient housing at affordable price levels is essential not only to social inclusion but also to achieving environmental objectives and protecting public health.
Turning environmental protection into an enforceable guarantee rather than a policy aspiration, must be the first steps on the road ahead. This requires strengthening the implementation of the European Social Charter also at local level, and drafting new legally binding instruments adding an explicit environmental dimension to existing Council of Europe texts, clarifying the competences of local authorities to integrate environmental protection into their exercise of their responsibilities while ensuring they have the powers and means necessary to act effectively.
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The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe is the political assembly representing local and regional governments across the 46 member States, responsible for promoting and monitoring local democracy.
