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Mayor of Limerick talks climate action at EU Green Capital Awards in Finland

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EU Green Capital Awards – Mayor Butler (pictured second from right) spoke at a forum entitled ‘Climate Action for Forerunner Cities’ alongside mayors of four other European cities. 

Mayor of Limerick talks climate action at EU Green Capital Awards in Finland

By I Love Limerick Correspondent Rachel Petticrew

EU Green Capital Awards

Mayor of Lahti, a city in southern Finland named the 12th European Green Capital, hosting the event.


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Mayor of Limerick City and County Daniel Butler recently attended the Annual EU Green Capital Awards in Finland to discuss climate change action in Limerick City. 

The event, which promotes genuine commitment to improving the environment, is held each year in a winning EU Green Capital City.  

Lahti, in southern Finland, was named the 12th European Green Capital in January 2021. The city has been commended for its dedication to improving air quality, managing waste, green growth & eco-innovation and governance. 

Mayor Butler spoke at a forum entitled ‘Climate Action for Forerunner Cities’ alongside mayors of four other European cities. 

The Limerick Mayor spoke about allowing ordinary citizens to lead their cities into a better climate future. 

“In Limerick, we are ambitious, and we have to be because the time for change is now. A lot of what we are speaking about today can be quite high-level, so how do we actually connect to our citizens in order to affect real change?” Mayor Butler queried.

“With that in mind, we in Limerick are trying to increase our level of engagement by creating energy leaders and waste leaders in our community. Ordinary citizens stepping up to create change in a small way, but having a global impact.”

Mayor Butler spoke of two primary actions Limerick has taken to increase environmentalism. 

Firstly, the Positive Energy Block of city-centre Georgian buildings, whose residents have agreed to help improve the energy ratings of these historic high rises.

The Mayor also discussed Limerick’s move into ‘smart metering’, a process whereby Limerick citizens who create energy in their homes can feed spare energy to the grid.

Mayor Butler believes simple projects accessible to Limerick communities are the key to climate change action in Limerick.

“Up until now, a lot of what we have been saying has been from the top-down. Now, we want to reach ordinary citizens and get them to be our leaders. That’s what we are trying to drive in Limerick,” said Mayor Butler.

For more information on the EU Green Capital Awards go HERE

For more environmental stories go HERE 

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