The Basque Country has committed to a reduction of 30% of greenhouse gases by 2020, as announced by the minister of the Environment, Territorial Planning and Housing, Iñaki Arriola, to the European Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy, Miguel Arias Cañete, with whom he met in Brussels with the aim of coordinating actions and aligning policies to address the effects of climate change.

The next day, the minister took part in a prize-giving ceremony for the first ever Transformative Action Award, an award sponsored by the European Committee of the Regions (COR), which was inspired by the ‘Basque Declaration’, with the aim of transforming towns and cities and moving towards sustainable development.

The Turkish city of Nilufer triumphed over the three other finalists, which included the sustainability office of the Basque region of Nerbioi-Ibaizabal, which was given a special mention.

The Basque minister for the Environment, Territorial Planning and Housing, stressed in Brussels the “fundamental role of municipal and regional institutions in the fight against climate change and for sustainable development, due to their closeness with citizens. They are the ones who must first manage projects and actions, and in this sense they meet a basic function.”