 Good morning, everyone. I think we are now live. Welcome to our first Green Deal hour organized by the European Committee of the Regents. For those who are not familiar with this EU body, we are the EU Assembly of Cities and Regents. And it's a delight, an honor, and a pleasure to have for this first session Rafał Szaszkowski, Mayor of Warsaw. Good morning, Mayor. Thank you very much for being with us today. I'm going to start very straightforward. The pandemic of COVID-19 thus has not erased the fact that we do live in a climate emergency. Is the pandemic pushing the climate agenda forward or backwards? Good morning. Good afternoon. It is an honor to be with you and to have this opportunity to exchange views on our utmost priority. Because if we do not treat the Green Deal seriously, if we do not treat the climate emergency as the top priority, we are going to waste the greatest opportunity to actually tackle one of the biggest problems that is ahead of us. And I think that if a politician, if someone involved in social life deems himself or herself to be progressive, to respond to the citizens' needs and to really tackle head-on, the biggest challenges that are before us, that is our top-most priority. Now, it is a very good question, because whether the pandemic and our fight against climate change are going to reinforce one another in a sense that the pandemic will allow us to change our thinking about the future and will allow us to actually revolutionize the way in which we do business or whether politicians will just focus on the pandemic and forget about all the priorities. This is one of the most topical questions that are before us. Now, I'm absolutely convinced that there is no other way but to actually do two things at the same time. Deal with the pandemic and bring recovery back to Europe, and at the same time use this crisis as an opportunity to change our way of thinking, change our way of doing business, and with the money that is on the table that is supposed to actually rejuvenate the economy and help us recover from the crisis, to use it wisely so that we invest it in ways that are going to be friendly for the environment, that are going to help us tackle climate change, that are going to actually put an end to the fossil fuel economy in the future, in the foreseeable future, so that we can emerge strong, innovative, so that we can emerge revolutionized, so we can think out of the box and most importantly save the climate. Good. And that's kind of the objective of the European Green Deal. We are going to talk today about the Green Deal. What is it exactly? It's the European just for our audience which are maybe not familiar with the Green Deal. It's the European Union new strategy to reach climate neutrality for 2050. That's going to be a main topic of today with you, Rafał Mayor of Warsaw. We are going to talk about the climate pact as well. I'm here kind of summarizing our five key topics today and then we will go through very concrete examples of what Warsaw is actually doing to move sustainability forward in three areas. Energy efficiency in buildings, the transport and making our cities green. The team here is telling me that we might have a technical problem, but I would like to ask you meanwhile, Rafał, about the Green Deal, our first topic. Do you think it is feasible to reach climate neutrality, that the European Union has the sufficient means to reach climate neutrality by 2050 right now with, as you said, with the money that's in the table to push for the recovery? Will these means be sufficient? Well, first of all, we need the commitment, a real commitment of the national governments. We need the commitments of the local and regional authorities and we need the commitments of the people on the ground. And if we have that commitment, if we raise awareness and that's what Green Pact is all about among our citizens, this is our topmost priority, then I think that the money which is on the table should be sufficient for us to be ambitious. Now, of course, the money is not enough, it has to be wisely spent and unfortunately some of the governments, the conservative government in Poland is a good case in point, might not be able to actually spend the money in the most effective way because, you know, these guys are politicizing everything and they want to share the money according to political criteria. So even if the money is on the table, the Commission, the European Parliament and of course the Committee of the Regents needs to make sure that the money is wisely spent and effectively spent so that we really attack the priorities, we attack the main sources of global warming so that we can be so that we can be as effective as possible. I think that the tools are on the table when it comes to legislative means, when it comes to the money and so on. I think that the European Union showed an incredible commitment. When we push the laggards and when we include the regional local authorities, and that's the job of the Committee of the Regents as well, then we can be successful. So the Committee of the Regents has one claim that cities and regions should be directly involved in the design of the economic recovery plans that have to take us out of these economic and social crisis. Now, we succeeded in making the European Commission do a recommendation to member states to actually involve cities and regions in the design of recovery plans. We are concerned about the certain over-centralization. How was this process in Poland? Like, have you been contacted by the central government on what priorities Warsaw would like to invest? Well, yes. I mean, we want the local and regional authorities to be involved and not because we think we are the wisest, but simply because we think we are closest to the people. And if you really want to attack the sources of emissions, then you need to do all the work on the ground. And of course, the cities are responsible for producing 70% of the emissions so we know best how to tackle the problem. And on top of that, we are pressurized. We're pushed by the people every day of our life when we walk the streets of our cities. People ask us questions about how are we going to tackle the most important problem that is ahead of us, because it's, of course, saving the planet, but it's also fighting for cleaner air, which is more palpable and people understand better. Now, unfortunately, quite a lot of governments want to centralize the system and want to take all the shots and all the decisions on how the money should be spent. This isn't not a good idea. I mean, we could, we should include as many actors as many stakeholders as possible, regional and local authorities, but also non-governmental organizations, also the citizens. And that's what we are doing with the European Commission through the impact. The Polish government decided just to fake some consultations. They are taking decisions which are grounded in politics. They are unfortunately now adopting criteria which are going to be influenced by politics, not by effectiveness. And that's why we are in constant contact with the European Commission so that the scrutiny of the whole process is as strong as possible, because we need to spend the money wisely. We need to adopt transparent and non-political criteria. And that's what we're going to push for. And it's not only the case of Poland, Hungary. I've talked to my colleagues in Spain. They are also complaining that the government is centralizing the process. My Italian colleagues are not so happy. So I think that we are all having a good argument to make that we should be all included, because then we will make sure that the money is spent in a way which is most effective. Absolutely. And next next weeks and next months will be crucial for that because one thing is to involve citizen regions in the design. And that is obviously somehow disappointing across Member States. But well, now we come to the implementation. So here, do we have another chance for the EU to work directly with citizen regions? I mean, how are we going to tackle that issue of over-centralization when it comes to the implementation of all the investments to put the EU economy back on track? Yes, of course. I mean, implementation should be overseen. Should be overseen by local and regional authorities. We should have part in overseeing the whole process because we are the experts. And of course, the European institutions should also oversee the process so that it's as transparent as possible and as non-partisan, as non-political as possible. I mean, for example, the Conservative government in Poland, the peace government, took a decision to actually make it difficult for the cities to apply for help. They decided to make it difficult for cities to actually invest in public transportation. They're doing it on purpose because they know that people in cities are generally more liberal and less prone to vote for them. And of course, that shouldn't be the case. I mean, politics should be out of it. All the decisions should be taken only on the grounds of effectiveness when it comes to meeting priorities. And that's why we should all be included in scrutiny. That's why European institutions should exercise a role and be tough because we cannot waste the money. We cannot spend the money in a way which is least effective. And here at the European Committee of the Regents with you as a member and with your colleagues and regional presidents from member states, I am sure that in a coalition and together we can make sure that cities and regions do have direct access to your funds for the benefit of every city. Now, Raphael, if I may, you are one of the youngest mayors of leading the new capital. You are highly engaged in working to a fully sustainable city that meets in tackling the energy efficiency in buildings that transport the clean air. We are going to talk about these three topics as we go along. Now, you are particularly focused on engaging with citizens, local neighborhoods and communities to boost civic participation and make sure that the transition towards climate neutrality, the green transition is inclusive and fair. And that's kind of the objective of the European climate pact, isn't it? What can you say about the European climate pact? Well, you know, there are quite a lot of initiatives all around Europe which are fighting for climate change. And now climate pact is an umbrella, is an umbrella which is to organize, to help organize all of those initiatives, put them under one roof and make them more effective so that all the non-governmental organizations, the local and regional authorities, the citizens who fight for climate neutrality can do it in a way which is more effective. It's an enabler of cooperation with the European institutions so that we can actually work in synergy and increase awareness of the problem because, you know, the younger generation know fully well that this should be our topmost priority. But the older generation sometimes have doubts, either even whether climate change exists or even if they know that it exists, they do not know what measures should be taken in order to fight it. Or, for example, you know, I have quite a few friends who are aware of the climate change but they are not that happy that we would, for example, try to reduce car circulation in the center of the city and prioritize public transportation. So we need to make those links visible so that people understand what kind of challenge are we facing and what are the means of fighting it. And that's what GreenPact is all about, about talking, about acting in order to increase awareness and also increase the effectiveness of our actions through benchmarking, for example, because thanks to GreenPact, we're meeting new people, we are seeing what they're doing, we're learning from one another, we are re-energizing each other to fight in a more effective way for climate with climate change. So you are a climate pact ambassador, which means that that's exactly also your role as a climate leader in Europe to to demonstrate that good practices are possible, that economic benefit comes also in parallel of environmental benefits. And in terms of engaging with citizens, I think you do have some very complete examples in Warsaw on how you actually involved citizens and youth in particular on climate action. I've heard there's some big project coming up. Well, yes, I mean, first of all, we do a lot of consultations on the projects that we're proposing. Secondly, we have the participatory budget and we are inviting people to put forward initiatives which are there to fight for climate neutrality and we're pretty successful at that. We have quite a lot of awareness exercises that we do with the citizens, but the most I think that the most revolutionary thing that we've done was a citizens panel. Citizens panel is a tool of direct direct democracy whereby we chose 100 people from inhabitants of Warsaw to tell us about energy efficiency and I and I promised I took upon myself to implement their recommendations so that their recommendations are actually binding for me. And we received those recommendations on energy saving from the citizens directly and I've sublimated myself to realize them and I treat them as binding so that actually citizens are involved in the decision making. That's what we're doing. But also, I'm not only the mayor of Warsaw, I'm also a politician. So I have this initiative at the end of August where we gather more than a thousand of young people from all around Poland to talk about the challenges of the future. And of course, climate change will be our top subject to discuss so that we can actually project the knowledge, increase the awareness and work with the young people all around the country and of course in my city in order to tackle the problem. That's that's extremely interesting to see how, as you said, direct democracy in the making, implementing direct democracy in our cities, in our local communities. That's what's all about also about the climate pact. So we take the opportunity here to call on the audience and to check on the European Climate Pact website just because if you are concerned about the climate, if you want to do something about the climate or if you are already doing something about the climate like, you know, taking public transport or cycling instead of taking your car, there are 16 different actions listed in the European Climate Pact website. And the objective of the European Union is that between the 18th of June and the 17th of July, we reach the highest number of people pledging climate action in one month to be in the Guinness World Records book. So since Climate Pact was one of the topics today, Raphael, then we take the opportunity to call for action to our audience. And if you fly, want to fly less, get some solar, green your money, drive electric, switch your energy, insulate your home and some other measures, you can let us know. And then, you know, these actions are not hidden. And, you know, we can also see what people in every day life they are doing. So let's, let's go. One sentence if you allow me. I mean, I always, I always listen, you know, take over some commitments yourself. And of course, it is difficult to be radical. So I mean, for example, to say, okay, I'm not going to use my car, I'm going to use public transportation. Or for example, to say I'm not going to eat meat from today onwards, it's difficult, it's radical. If you are strong enough, do it. But if you're not strong enough, I mean, start with a small commitment. For example, I'm going to use biking bikes and public transportation on the weekends. Or at least when I'm moving in my own district of the city, when I'm not going to the center or so on, then I will bike or I will walk. Or for example, you know, I will not eat meat on or I will eat meat only once a week. You know, start with with small commitments, realistic ones, and then you can make a world of a difference. Because I know that it's difficult to simply say, you know, I'm not going to use my car. Warsaw is a huge city. I need sometimes to be at 10 places at a time. But for example, you know, when in my private life, when I'm spending a weekend with my family, I try to use the subway or bike or walk. And by the way, it is much better for your health. You are you can lose some kilos after the epidemic, which are so necessary after this pandemic. And when someone when people are in there, beautiful force, isn't it? In any case, Rafa, you touch a topic that for me, I'm very concerned. It's the role of consumer in the fight against global warming and versus the role of producers. Let's not forget today that sometimes people think that they are being asked big changes, like drop their old car and buy a new one for 25,000 euros. People just don't have these 25,000 euros. On the other side, industry, coal, carbon intense industries, tax exemptions for fuel for aircraft fuel, all these measures, they contribute so much to global warming. So here, let me ask you, you know, we put the spot on the consumer, but I always think that we have to push production towards sustainability as a key measure if we are to reach climate neutrality. I'm talking about program obsolence. I'm talking about, you know, buying a charger every year, because we didn't manage to put a single charger for all phones. What do you think about the role of production, energy production, transport? And, you know, at the end of the day, coal is still a problem in Poland and in other regions in Europe. What are we going to do from the production side, from the big emitters of CO2 emissions, in addition to individual actions that we can all take? Well, I mean, first of all, the things that we are talking about are very much linked, because I mean, as you raise the awareness, especially among the young people, the young people are pressurizing politicians, they're pressurizing their parents into behaving in a responsible way. So for example, they ask, you know, what is the carbon footprint? Why are we using this? Why are we using something which is more eco-friendly? Do we really need to use the car on that particular occasion? And of course, you know, this pressure is organized by the grassroots. But we need to do more. And why the European Union is so much needed? Because it gives us the legal framework and it can create laws which are going to actually influence also the behavior of the producers. Because through the whole legal framework, one can influence the way in which we use our cars. Because simply when we take political decisions which influence the taxes, which influence the benefits from production of cars or other vehicles, then we can actually influence the way in which we can influence the pricing, the pricing of energy as well. I mean, for example, you know, 10 years ago, renewable energy was expensive. Today, it is much, much cheaper. In a few years, it will be even cheaper than fossil fuels. Similarly, when European Union policy and national policy is wise, you know, electric cars will become much, much, much cheaper. And this is the way forward. Raising awareness and also creating a legal framework and taking decisions, for example, on tax, which are going to simply lower prices of those utilities that are simply friendly to their environments. This is the way forward. And that's going to happen anyhow. I'm talking sometimes to the conservative politicians who tell me that they don't believe the global warming. And I tell them, forget it. I'm not going to have that conversation with you because I'm not going to convince you because it's impossible. You are so set in your ways. But remember this, if we are not going to use the revolution and if we are not going to modernize our economy, invest in green solutions, then we are going to be relegated to the margins of the European society because Europe will go there anyhow. So either we go with them, either we become innovative green, or simply our economy will not be able to compete because the rules will be adopted, which are going to simply make fossil fuels too expensive. And through certain decisions that we make as politicians, we can also reinforce it. For example, in Warsaw, we are giving those subsidies to people who are changing their coal-powered furnaces into renewables. Or we pay our citizens, we give them money when they install renewable energy. Or we have those special programs which actually make it easier to invest in retention of water. So those are the things that we can do in order to reinforce changes through direct means. And that's why I was always pledging that the EU money, that there should be programs of the EU within the Green Deal that are used directly by cities and regional authorities because we know best how to actually help citizens change the way in which they behave through simply reinforcing such behaviors with financial means. So Mayor, you talked about environmental sense and then economic sense. It's about if you don't jump into the transition, it's going to happen anyway. But there are certain very concrete examples where we can see the question about reconciling environmental and economic benefit is actually fully consolidated. The European Union actually is the proof that in the last 40 years we managed to growth economically and decrease emissions. And it's absolutely possible, so it's kind of if you don't do it for the environment, do it for the money. And here, and let's straightforward go to buildings, energy efficiency in buildings is the example where you protect the environment and you save money at the same time. With insulation of your windows, with replacing a fossil fuel solves or heating systems. And you've mentioned already the program of Warsaw in the sense, but I wanted to ask you, energy poverty in Europe, in my opinion, within all this debate about climate and energy, it's one of the most dramatic aspects in Europe, as much as 40 million Europeans cannot heat their homes properly in winter. That's 10% of the population. And we've seen how energy prices have been growing up for the last 20 years. We are not going to enter on the monopoles that still exist in many countries. But what can you, let's start by, how are you tackling in Warsaw the question of energy poverty and the decreasing of emissions from buildings? Well, yes, I mean, you know, this is a real problem in Europe that some of the means are not controversial and are easy to implement. Some of them are more controversial and some of them are very controversial. Let me give you an example. I mean, I think that no one should be convinced that we should save energy and energy efficiency measures are not controversial at all. And we can implement them with all the people being happy about them. And that's exactly what we're doing. And also, we are tackling energy poverty as well. For example, you know, the poorest neighborhood in Warsaw, they had a problem because they were not connected to the central heating. 10 years ago, only 10% of the district, which was the most privileged, was connected to the heating system. Now it's 50-60%. So we are making a huge progress on connecting those regions, those districts of Warsaw to central heating. Or, for example, we pay for the exchanges of the heating system from fossil fuel to renewables. And this is not controversial. Everyone agrees that it should be done and we can see the palpable benefits. I can even tell you that, you know, we had in one of the districts of Warsaw, we had rankings in educational system which were a bit lower. And a lot of people were saying yes, because, you know, that's the problem that people do not take sufficient attention and so on. And it turned out that the reason was very simple. That simply some of those houses in winter were not warm enough because people couldn't afford it. And the kids were catching cold more often and they were out of school for many more days than kids in central Warsaw. So it has a huge impact on the city. That's why we are doing all of those measures, connecting to the heating system and so on, and so forth, liquidating the coal power stoves and so on, which also has an impact on clean air. But this is relatively uncontroversial. Then you have a second batch of measures. For example, public transportation, prioritizing public transportation, limiting the movement of cars in the center of the city. We have plans of doing a clean zone in the historical center and so on and so forth. And people say, yes, we should do it, but then when it influences their own life, for example, you know, they say, no, no, I want to use my car. I want to enter the city center whenever I want, you know, you shouldn't increase the parking fees and so on and so forth. Then it becomes controversial. So people would agree on the direction, but then when it touches their own life and they have to change their habits, then it gets more difficult. And then of course, the third sort of category is the most difficult, because in Poland, we are dependent 75% on fossil fuels. We are the most dependent European nation on coal, which also gives us certain independence vis-à-vis those countries which use energy as a political tool. And it is very, very difficult to change it overnight. And of course, you know, the conservative government is not doing enough. They wasted six years in government in not addressing these challenges. But it has to be said objectively that it is difficult because it requires a lot of money. It requires massive investments. It requires a lot of effort on the part of the people to actually change jobs. And of course, the government and we can introduce those requalification schemes, but it's not easy. And finally, there is this cultural thing. I mean, it is very difficult for people for whom coal mining is part of their culture. It's a part of their DNA. Changing it overnight has proved in Britain, has proved in Spain, has proved in France. It's not easy. So, you know, that's the problem, that we have those different categories of things. Some of them are not conservative. We can do them overnight. Some of them are more controversial and require the change of habits. And some of them are the most difficult and actually necessary massive investment. But of course, we should focus on those because those are going to give us change. And we should invest the money wisely, talk to the people, include them, allow them to re-qualify. And that's what we should be doing on the national level. So, it's about raising awareness, evolving citizens, education, obviously, but then offering alternative and new jobs to the people. Before we go to transport, which is a very, very popular topic in our chats today, I want just to talk about energy bills. Poland is below the EU average of the kilowatt price per hour. But still, in the EU, prices, energy bills have gone up substantially in the last 20 years. We have, I often put the example of telecommunications and air transport, where the liberalization of the European Union has benefited the consumer. Obviously, that's the ultimate goal. We pay much more or less for phone calls today than 25 years ago. And we, lucky or not for the climate, well, that's another topic. The monopoles on airlines have, you know, we are, it's much cheaper to fly and to travel. And there has been democratization of traveling in the past 25 years. With the energy, it seems that something blocks. We cannot, we do not manage so far to decrease energy bills for the European consumer. That's also a main reason why energy poverty rates are so high in Europe. Do you think we are seriously reaching an end to the energy monopoles and that we are going towards a decentralization of energy production? And like most importantly, are we finally going to get energy bills lower for EU citizens anytime soon? Well, yes, hopefully. I mean, unfortunately, the prices of energy up. And if the national governments are not keeping up with the European laws and are not investing in changing the energy mix, you know, those bills will go up. And of course, it's a paradox because the prices of green energy actually go down. And we need to invest. We need to think about smart grids. We need to increase those possibilities of using the energy and making it cheaper, obviously. But at the same time, we cannot lose from site energy security. And that's the problem that, you know, the same governments which are trying to be as green as possible, now they want to open a new chapter of fantastic relations with Russia when Russia is being incredibly aggressive. And when it uses energy as a tool, as a political tool. So I mean, consistency is very important. You know, we need to decrease the prices. We need to change our energy mix. But at the same time, we cannot forget about energy security because, you know, there has to be a balance between the two. And I hope that with the legal framework that the European Union is introducing, energy sooner or later from renewables will become cheaper. But for now, I mean, this situation is difficult. And in Poland, for example, the energy prices are skyrocketing. Why? Because the government was not doing enough to actually adopt the new circumstances. They've wasted their years in government when it comes to meeting these challenges of new green economy. And that's why we should, as citizens, as opposition politicians, as responsible people, we should be pushing the governments to actually be more be more innovative and be more ambitious. Thank you, Mayor. There's a lot of from the audience about transport. And in any case, transport was a key topic of our conversation today. So transport accounts for around 40% of CO2 emissions in the European Union. We have many questions on the chat. You've answered some of them. I was talking to a Polish friend living in Warsaw. He said that the public transport in Warsaw is one of the best. It is. It is. I mean, it is very punctual. It is clean and more and more low or zero emission. We are investing in the subway, we are investing in the tram lines. We've bought, we have the biggest tenure in Europe outside of London for no emission buses. We've got 130 no emission buses and low emission buses. So yes, I mean, we treat it as an absolute priority. And also we are prioritizing public transportation in the cities, through bus lines and so on and so forth, because we think that that's the way forward. And more than 50% of the people living in Warsaw use public transportation, which is a great result. Of course now, I mean, there is a certain influence of the pandemic where those rates are falling a bit, but we hope they're going to go back up after the pandemic. I mean, you know, we need to do it and we need to advertise the way that our public transportation works really great. I mean, you know, I live at the outskirts of Warsaw and, you know, sometimes when I use my car, it takes between 40 minutes to an hour to get to the city center. Sometimes it takes an hour and a half. When I jump on the subway, it's 25 minutes, 28 minutes. So when I do, when I really need to be on time, I use the subway. There you go. Let me ask you a question from the, from the audience is Warsaw planning a zero emission zone when it comes to, you know, a clean transport zone, but you did say already that the city center, can you tell us a little bit more about it? We are planning to have a zero emission zone in the historical center and around it. Now, of course, that's also the decision which needs to be done by the city council, but we are going to be proposing such solutions. When, when do you think that's going to enter into force? And if I may also ask whether I will have the majority for it in the city council, because, you know, some of colleagues of mine, even in my own, in my own caucus, are not that progressive. But we hope we can do it in the coming years, first planets and then executing. Very good. Another question from the audience on transport, which is the most popular topic here. What measures limiting the demand for individual car transport are planned by Warsaw? We are kind of answering these with your combination of buses, trams and metro. You also planning this second metro line, right? Well, we are building the second, second metro line. We are investing in railway, which is in the bounds of the city. We are building those park and ride places. We've built quite a few in Warsaw, the outskirts, so that you can leave your car at the parking and then switch into public transportation. We are doing bus lanes. We are, of course, building bike lanes and more and more Varsovians use bikes to commute. You know, we were starting from a very, very low level of one percent. We're slowly reaching 10 and more. So, of course, it's not yet Copenhagen or Amsterdam, but more and more people use bikes. And we're also changing the city centre so that it's more amenable to people who walk, who use public transportation or the bike. So, I was in Madrid last week, work-related and keeping the safety measures, but la Gran Vía Madrileña, they also reduced by two car lanes recently. And now it is a much more pleasant pedestrian zone, which very much benefits the local commerce and businesses, but from theatres to cinemas to shops. So, how can we, you know, better communicate or, you know, I've heard that there is a certain controversy in Warsaw with the bike lanes, but I don't know how it, we know that it's beneficial from the environmental and health perspective for citizens, but also for local businesses. So, how can we better manage this transition and people's expectations? By simply demonstrating it to them. I mean, you know, the problem of Warsaw is this. I mean, it's one of the most dynamic cities in Warsaw, and it has those islands of activity, fantastic places where, you know, there are hundreds of restaurants, hundreds of clubs, which live 24 hours a day. And then, you know, there are those pathways, those avenues in the city center, which are kind of dead, because there are only banks there, there are only big chains there, there are no greenery, no bars and pubs and so on and so forth. And, you know, there are quite wide streets where people, you know, try to speed up. I mean, what we are trying to do, we are trying to remodel the city center. So, to bring life back to those big avenues, we try to control the prices of some of those rented spaces so that booksellers, little studios and bars and restaurants can come back and actually enliven those avenues and bring more benches and bring more bike lanes and greenery and so on and so forth. We want to stitch the center together so that those islands of activity are connected. And that's what we're doing, that's what we're planning. But it of course means that we want to slow down a bit the traffic in the city center, make one or two streets pedestrian zones, just as it's done everywhere in the modern world, because we want to give the city back to the inhabitants so that the center of the city lives. And of course, sometimes you need to use a car if you need to go to a hospital or to a business center or so on and so forth. But yeah, go there for two or three hours, do your business and then leave. I mean, it shouldn't be affordable for someone to come and leave his or her car for two or three days in the city center. I mean, the city center is best communicated with the rest of the city and should be given back to the people who really want to use it. So yes, if you need to use a car, we will facilitate that. But we will give biggest priority for public transportation, for walking, for biking, because the city center should be stitched together and work as an organism which which which lives and pulsates 24 hours a day. Thank you, Mayor. So almost almost two million people in Warsaw, right? 1.8 million people, very vibrant, dynamic, a lot of real state going on, new construction, but you also talk about greening. How do you reconcile this dynamism, obviously, and a vibrant, Poland capital growing in a in a in a rapid path and at the same time, willing to green the city and obviously tackle one of the major problems I've heard in for Warsaw, people living in Warsaw, which is clean air. How do you reconcile economic growth of a vibrant capital with greening the city? Well, I mean, you know, 10 or 15 years ago, people wanted to buy apartments, live in a city center, but now they want to buy apartments in the city center or in the in the districts of Warsaw when there is a park nearby, when there are benches, when there are, you know, green spaces because people know how important it is. So so now we simply are more demanding on the investors so that they create green spaces so that they conserve energy so that they conserve water and so on and so forth. And I think also, you know, people who are buying apartments now are pushing for that. People who are building also, you know, offices are now much more demanding. And I think that people who work in those offices want to have want to work in a place which is greener, which has more light, and so on and so forth. So that's why Warsaw is transforming itself. And for example, you know, those those offices which were built 15 years ago, 12 years ago, people are leaving them, they want new, modern, more green, more more light and so on and so forth. That's why Warsaw is so dynamic and so vibrant, and it's changing so quickly. Because all of us, we, you know, we exist, exercise pressure on the investors so that they take quality of life into the account. That's what we're doing now. I mean, Warsaw is at a different stage of development. We are not only about expanding our city, but we are about quality of life, like some of the most ambitious cities in Europe. So, you know, please come, see it, spend a lot of money, and you will see that I'm right. Rafaal, nine million trees? Yes, nine million trees. We're counting, we're counting. I mean, we've decided also, I mean, you know, I was at a Blue Marvard program for mayors, and what they've taught us there, data, data, data, you have to base your decisions on data. So that's what we're doing. You know, we're installing those new installations to actually measure air quality. We are counting trees in Warsaw and also trying to see what kind of financial benefit it brings to the city because it does in order to base our decisions on data and in order to be able to show to the citizens that actually investing in greenery is beneficial for all. We've also created this green fund where investors can actually pay into this common fund and decide what they want to change in the city, whether they want to invest in parks or whether they want to invest in retention reservoirs to bring more water to Warsaw, and so on and so forth. So yes, we're doing it together. And trees, I've planned to plant another million till the end of my term in order to have as many as possible. And yes, sometimes it's great to actually count them. It's sometimes great to name things. It's sometimes great to measure things because then you can show the results and to make informed decisions. You're talking about measuring and we have a question from the audience here. How do you intend to motivate citizens to be more environmental friendly, to make them contribute? But the second part of the question says, can you create a contest, a tracker? We're talking about measuring here, where citizens know exactly how much they contribute. What can we say? We are, I mean, some citizens even invent such competitions through the participatory budget. We've done, for example, at Invaver in one of the districts of Warsaw where we invest in renewables and we have this huge clock which shows the results. It shows how much money was saved, how much energy was saved in this particular district of Warsaw. And it's great because people can see every day how they contribute to the prosperity of their own district and to the environment. So here about, let me ask you, please, the relation between climate and health is a direct one. Around 400,000 people die annually of the impact and consequences of pollution. And I have to ask you because obviously my Warsaw friends told me as well that sometimes you have no choice but to recommend Warsaw citizens, especially the elderly, to stay home during certain winter days where there are some pollution picks. I've been told that this is something that very unfortunately has been happening regularly for the past years. What's the situation now and do you think that all these measures you are implementing in Warsaw will hopefully and eventually lead to a cleaner air in winter times as well where people can freely walk around and open the windows if they wish? Yes, I mean we are doing everything we can but of course it takes time. So you can sometimes see very quickly locally that the situation has been changed because for example when we took away the coal power stoves in Praga in one of the districts of Warsaw, immediately after a year you can see the difference in quality of air but the pollution and especially in winter days sometimes when there is low temperature and there is no wind and so there is a little wind which blows the emissions from outside of Warsaw but it's not strong enough as to blow it over. You know we have those days where the emissions peaks are huge and of course you know I mean we are not going to be able to deal with it overnight or in a year or two because it is dependent on the energy mix of the whole country because the emissions are blown from outside of Warsaw as well. We cannot change the way in which people use their cars overnight but slowly but surely I mean those indexes are improving and will improve when we have enough financial means to bring some of our programs into conclusion. So locally we see the differences already when it comes to the city as a whole it will take time but surely you know those indexes are changing for the better. Thank you very much Mayor. So I'm having more questions from the audience. Let me pick up this like do you think can cities put effective pressure on national authorities for the necessary regulation and support to facilitate the creation of clean transport zones and the construction and upgrading of walking and cycling infrastructure. Obviously there are sometimes political choices not sometimes often political choices drive policies. Do you find support or do you find support from national police national authorities when it comes to greening cities here for instance the question is on transport and you know upgrading cycling. Unfortunately you know the relations with the conservative governments are strained in Poland of all regional local authorities because they treat us especially the mayors of the cities smaller and bigger as a foe and they're distributing money according to political criteria so they are trying not to invest too much in the big cities but I hope that at the end of the day they will realize that if they want to meet the priorities of the European Union they need to invest in the cities as well. So I mean you know I hope that that at the end of the day they will be pushed into investing in the cities and treating those priorities seriously. Now we are a few months ahead of COP26 the United Nations climate change annual summits we are in a situation where people have the tendency to forget that we live in a climate emergency and maybe have the tendency to push for economic measures that do not take into consideration the environment and the lowering of emissions. What at the global scale you know climate is about acting local but there is a global debate about climate. How do you see the situation right now on the global climate agenda? What do you expect also from COP26 in Glasgow next November? Well I expect more ambitious goals and of course you know the European Union has always been ambitious. Now we are very hopeful with the change of the American administration with Joe Biden because he is much much more ambitious on the Green Agenda and even the Chinese in the past 10 years they have did a U-turn on their policy so I'm hopeful because if if those three biggest players in the world treat global warming seriously the European Union the United States of America and China I think that we can make progress. Global to the local one question about how is life today in Warsaw what measures safety measures for against the the the COVID-19 are in place and how is how is life in Warsaw today? Well the government has opened up the economy and kind of went back to normal 60 percent of the inhabitants of Warsaw are inoculated so and I hope you know the whole program will speed up because it's slowing down unfortunately and we need to be vaccinated because if we vaccinated by 80 percent we limit the risk of the fourth wave but of course we are watching what's happening in Britain and in Spain you know the Delta variant is spreading widely so we hope that it will have a limited impact on our city but we all know that it depends on the level of vaccination on how those vaccines how effective they are so we are you know I had for example for a month we didn't have a city COVID alarm desk because we were meeting you know in those meetings emergency meetings every week twice or three times a week for a month we didn't have one and I just called one today because we need to observe the situation as it is changing. So thank you very much Rafa we are closely ring the end of our first Green Deal Hour with you and our audience live on Facebook five very short questions for you please for our audience tell us would you advise us a cool book to read this summer? Oh yeah there are plenty of books I could advise you on I'm reading one on the crusades you know by by Jones I think his name is I'm reading Henry James Henry James's short stories which are actually quite quite intriguing even though written more than 120 years ago and I'm a fan of detective stories so I can always say read Robert Harris he's always fantastic and and John K. K. R. R. Fantastic book. Excellent so there's a variety of options yes we can see that are you in your office in the city council yep you are so tell me what's your favorite band? Jamiroquai. Jamiroquai excellent excellent I wanted to tell you lately mine is Oscar and the Wolf they are from Antwerp Belgium so I wanted you'll check them out thanks so tell us what are you doing this summer? I don't know I don't know yet I hope I will have time for a vacation but I will plan it in August because I always plan my vacation in August and we'll see I hope I will see as always sorry you hope you excuse me I will be able to do a bit of diving a bit of diving there you go another recommendation for our audience and then my last question there's a dog star who's more famous you you or the dog? Of course my dog of course my dog my dog he's a french bulldog and he was very much disappointed that friends does not play anymore in the World Cup so now he's cheering for Italy because you know those he's closest friends and his name is Bumble which is a bubble in polish and he's a pretty nice fellow very good he has more Twitter followers than you? Well not yet but but I think he's quite popular and and even even my political foes do not hate him because it's impossible to hate a french bulldog is it? I would have and the audience would as well certainly have many many more questions just allow me please to have a very final one when we will have the pleasure to see you in Brussels again. Well I hope after after after vacation I hope that there will be no more lockdowns and no more waves of COVID and that we can actually resume our work in in September. Excellent we have a lot coming up after the summer we have the European Union Week of Regions and Cities which is the largest event in the EU it's all about cities and regions and cohesion policy and investing in in sustainable policies and how cities and regions are actually the drivers of the climate neutrality transition that the European Union is aiming for 2050. Rafał Szaszkowski thank you so much for being with us in this first very first edition of the Green Deal Hour organized by the European Committee of the Regions the European Union Assembly of Cities and Regions it's 1 p.m. Brussels time it's been a pleasure very interesting a very inspiring I hope it was the same feeling for our audience to the point that they are going to take climate action we are all responsible a bit for the biggest challenge of our times we could even say thank you so much Rafał for being with us we'll see you in Brussels very soon thank you everyone yes certainly thank you very much thank you very much thank you and remember it's more seasonable seasonable fruit and vegetables walk and bike that's what we can all do for fun from the fork from the fork to the fork thank you very much mr mayor thank you and thank you everyone for watching we'll see you very soon in our next Green Deal Hour thank you for watching have a good day