Conference “Alpine Partnership for Local Climate Action”

The mountains of the Alps are threatened by climate change in various ways. This habitat is very sensitive and particularly exposed to climate changes: average temperatures are rising twice as fast as the global average. Whether vegetation period, water balance, snow line or glacier, the whole system gets out of sync. In October 2015 the conference “„Klimaschutz jetzt! Alpengemeinden setzen um!” brought together representatives from all Alpine countries to discuss challenges, instruments, strategies and success factors for climate action at the municipal level. One of the most important results was the publication of a joint appeal to the UN Climate Change Conference.

Launch of „Alpine Partnership for Local Climate Action (ALPACA)“ in Innsbruck November 2018. ©Caroline Begle

The main aim of the Follow-Up Conference in 2018 was to kickstart the initiative “Alpine Partnership for Local Climate Action (ALPACA)“, which was conceptualised in a different project by the “International Commission for the Protection of the Alps” (CIPRA), “Allianz in den Alpen” (AidA) and “Alpine Town of the Year Association” (AsdJ). ALPACA supports cities, municipalities and local stakeholders to take concrete action for climate action in 7 Alpine countries. Work-plan and financial table for activities of the following year were prepared in a follow-on workshop in Grenoble in May 2019. BMU and BMNT (Austria) provided financing for partnership activities.

43 political decisionmakers and representatives of local authorities, scientific and educational institutions, NGOs, network representatives, all from different Alpine countries convened in Innsbruck in November 2018 to set up the ALPACA. The Partnership is supported by 11 regional, national and transnational umbrella-organisations, networks and other cooperation structures from all Alpine countries.

The project has helped to establish ALPACA in the Alpine region. This means:

• Strengthen the Alpine communities so that they can better meet the challenges of climate change (greenhouse gas reduction and adaptation to climate change)
• Strengthen networks and umbrella organisations that support communities in their efforts
• Bridging the gap between research and practice through knowledge transfer
• Lobby on the national and international stage to ensure that communities receive more funding for their actions in dealing with climate change
• Increase the visibility of climate change mitigation and adaptation measures at the local level and raise awareness of how to deal with the climate crisis

ALPACA – The Alpine Partnership for Local Climate Action | EUSALP (alpine-region.eu)