On 19 Septembre, local stakeholders from both sides of Dover Strait met in Eurotunnel headquarters in Coquelles (France) to discuss joint actions to be implemented in the future in order to reduce the carbon emissions within their territory.
The meeting enabled French and British stakeholders involved in PASSAGE project to acknowledge the first results of the Dover Strait carbon study. Léo Génin, from I-Care Consult, explained that a very important part of the carbon emissions linked to the strait are in fact emissions on which local stakeholders have a very little power, considering that they are due to international maritime traffic, which does not even stop into the ports of the strait.
The meeting was an excellent opportunity for the stakeholders to share their views on the best way to act to reduce carbon emissions of their territory, in their area of competencies. Pas-de-Calais County Council and Kent County Council, partners of PASSAGE project, introduced the first proposals of action for the future cross-border action plan. Among concrete actions to act on energy scarcity or to develop low-carbon mobility and tourism, it was also a good opportunity to discuss the best ways to structure governance at cross-border level in order to continue the type of exchanges initiated in the framework of PASSAGE project meetings. A step towards the future!
The meeting ended with a visit of the Channel Tunnel installation on French side, which enabled all participants to better understand the issues around protection of the site and just-on-time traffic management.
