On 21 August, Secretary General of the Alpine Convention, Alenka Smerkolj met with the Mayor of Innsbruck, Georg Willi. During this inaugural meeting, the opportunities for a further close cooperation between the Permanent Secretariat of the Alpine Convention and its host city were discussed.
Mayor Georg Willi pointed at the Alpine Conventions Soil Conservation Protocol and the Transport Protocol which are of particular significance for the capital of Tyrol given its geographical location and topological characteristics. Moreover, the Mayor underlined the role of the Alpine Convention as a reference document for tackling climate change, the impact of which on the fragile alpine ecosystem is even more severe and does not stop at administrative borders.
Secretary General Alenka Smerkolj referred to the Alpine Convention, not only as an international treaty but also as a living example for putting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into practice, also at the local level.