Claudia Cowie joined the SSN Steering Group in January this year. Claudia is Team Leader, Climate Change & Sustainability, for Aberdeenshire Council. She and her team are responsible for implementing climate change policy, coordinating the carbon budget and Climate Change Action Plan and supporting the development of the North East Scotland Sustainable Energy Action Plan.
Claudia was appointed to the North Sea Commission’s Energy and Climate Change Group earlier this year. Below she talks about her role with the Commission and how it is benefiting her wider sustainability work in the council.
Creating positive change in the North Sea Region
I was recently appointed as the Advisor for the North Sea Commission (NSC) Energy and Climate Change group after being a member for the last couple of years. I have begun to settle into the role and I’m starting to see the real benefits of being engaged with the Commission. As we all know, working in the public sector can be challenging but it is also very rewarding. One of my favourite things about our sector is our desire to work collaboratively. We are always open to sharing with others and considering partnership opportunities. This is something that the NSC offers and also takes us beyond our usual borders.
The NSC is a membership-based platform for regions around the North Sea and is one of the six geographical commissions of the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR). There are many challenges and opportunities presented to the regions who border the North Sea. NSC’s mission is to strengthen the partnerships between regional authorities so that they can embrace both.
Through dialogue and formal partnerships, the NSC actively seeks to promote common interests, especially in relation to European Union institutions, national governments and other organisations dealing with issues that are relevant to the North Sea. After Brexit, this relationship will be even more beneficial for local authorities in the U.K. who are a part of the NSC.
Cooperation focuses on four main themes and involves policy development and political lobbying, development of transnational projects and exchange of knowledge and best practice. The key areas are: energy and climate change; marine resources; smart regions and transport.
This year the NSC Task Force Group began the development of a new strategy to cover the next 10 years. The main priorities to come out of this will be:
- A healthy North Sea
- A climate neutral North Sea Region
- A connected North Sea Region
- A smart North Sea Region
On 25-26 June the NSC hosted their annual joint conference with the North Sea Region Programme in Marstrand, Sweden. This year the focus was on climate change and over 250 delegates from across the North Sea region came together for meetings and climate change themed workshops. Organisers recoginsed the need to engage young people and had an excellent presentation from Jamie Wylie of the 2050 Climate Group representing the great work happening in Scotland. Conversations in workshops really enhanced the need for out-of-the-box thinking and for the public sector to use their procurement power to create positive change. There are so many excellent projects going on across the North Sea region and there is a definite need for more sharing of best practice.
More information about this event can be found here. The North Sea Region blog on the event can also be found here.
With many countries and regions declaring a climate emergency, and Scotland at the forefront of global climate ambition, the time is now for all of us to look beyond our borders to share experiences and consider collaborative opportunities. We can only tackle climate change if we are all actively engaged in the mammoth task ahead. The NSC is just one example of an avenue for this. It is critical that we use our influence and connections to share best practice at every opportunity.