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The Covenant of Mayors is an ambitious initiative of the European Commission that brings together the mayors of Europe's most pioneering cities in a permanent network to exchange and apply good practices across these cities and beyond to improve energy efficiency significantly in the urban environment.
The Covenant of Mayors consists of the commitment by the cities to to go beyond the objectives of the EU energy policy in terms on reduction of CO2 emissions through enhanced energy efficiency and cleaner energy production and use.
The Covenant was launched during the ManagEnergy Annual Conference (EU Sustainable Energy Week - EUSEW, January 2008), reflecting the strong links between the aims of ManagEnergy and the Covenant.
You can find out more about the Covenant by viewing the presentations from the ManagEnergy and Covenant Events which took place during EUSEW 2008 and 2009.
The Covenant of Mayors is an initiative of the European Commission (EC) Directorate General for Energy and Transport.
As well as supporting the cities
via the Covenant of Mayors Office and the local and regional energy actors via the Intelligent Energy - Europe (IEE) Programme and ManagEnergy, the EC also provides support in raising awareness through its Sustainable Energy - Europe Campaign and the EU Sustainable Energy Week.
A list of cities that have signed up to the Covenant of Mayors can be found on the Covenant of Mayors Office website at:
www.eumayors.eu/covenant_cities/towns_cities_en.htm
The official text of the Covenant laid out as a brochure is available to download in 23 languages from:
www.eumayors.eu/library/documents_en.htm#layouted_text
Local and Regional Energy Agencies (LEAs) fulfil an indispensable role in the Covenant of Mayors, by sharing their wealth of knowledge and expertise in local energy actions and policies. These entities not only support Covenant cities as they strive to reduce their CO2 emissions, but also make a significant contribution to the overall initiative. Conversely, the Covenant also offers LEAs – and the networks of more than 350 agencies across the EU – the opportunity to benefit from increased recognition of their cause through engagements with signatory cities.
The Covenant aims to be all inclusive, giving every citizen the right to live in a community with a clear plan to fight climate change. This means that small cities must be included.
While large cities have the necessary in-house human resources and technical skills, this is not the case for most small cities. They will in all likelihood need the assistance of technical experts, including local and regional energy agencies and actors, as well as other levels of local and regional administration.
This raises a number of opportunities for local and regional energy actors, which were addressed in part during the ManagEnergy Annual Conference New Opportunities for Local Energy Actors, which also took place during EUSEW 2009.
The European Commission has defined a role for Supporting Structures within the Covenant of Mayors as those public administrations that are in a position to provide strategic guidance, financial and technical support to municipalities that have the political will to sign up to the Covenant of Mayors, but which lack the skills and/or resources to fulfil its requirements, namely the preparation and implementation of Sustainable Energy Action Plan.
These Supporting Structures can be national and regional public bodies, counties, provinces, agglomerations, NUTS III areas, mentor cities etc. Alternatively, they may be networks of local and regional authorities that commit to improve the Covenants' impact.
As well as having a role as Supporting Structures in their own right, energy agencies and other local and regional energy actors may provide useful support directly to Covenant signatories or to other Supporting Structures.
Further information about Supporting Structures can be found at:
www.eumayors.eu/support_structures/index_en.htm
Through the experience and know-how of LEAs, the participating cities can receive important help with the drafting of their Sustainable Energy Action Plans.
Within the overall framework of the Covenant LEAs will both promote the initiative and provide technical assistance to signatory cities. In much the same way as Supporting Structures can lend a helping hand to participating cities, LEAs can also provide the much needed human resources to those smaller cities who may otherwise not achieve their goals.
The Covenant of Mayors Office (COMO) has set up a Local and Regional Energy Actors (LAREAs) Helpline to answer your questions related to the Covenant.
For further information, please contact: Dominique Bourges (dominique.bourges@eumayors.eu) or Olivier Soumeryn-Schmit (olivier.soumeryn.schmit@eumayors.eu) - Tel. +32 2 646 73 16
The Committee of the Regions (CoR), partner in the Covenant of Mayors initiative, insists that regional and local authorities are the key "players" in the fight against climate change.
The Committee of the Regions (CoR) provides its full political support to the Covenant of Mayors initiative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and believes that the next step should be to develop further the Covenant concept to include sub-national levels of government in order to achieve ambitious EU energy and climate policy goals.
The
European Commission Directorate General Joint Research Centre (JRC) will be providing scientific and technical back-up to all signatory cities of the Covenant of Mayors. This role will involve evaluating signatory cities' sustainable energy plans and providing feedback on these plans (e.g. advising on setting up the baseline, policy options, specific measures etc.), as well as ongoing monitoring and support during implementation of signatory cities' plans. This makes the JRC very well placed to share its expertise with cities and other local energy actors.
Signatories to the Covenant of Mayors commit to submitting their Sustainable Energy Action Plans (SEAPs) within the year following adhesion. These towns and cities are then expected to provide periodic public reports outlining the progress of their action plans.
While large cities have the necessary in-house human resources and technical skills to prepare a plan and the reports, this is not the case for most small cities. They will in all likelihood need the assistance of technical experts, including local and regional energy agencies and actors, as well as other levels of local and regional administration.
Sustainable Energy Action Plans: Guidance Elements (26 September 08)
Further information on SEAPs can be found online at:
www.eumayors.eu/about_the_covenant/sustainable_energy_for_action_plans_en.htm
The Benchmarks of Excellence are a key element of the Covenant of Mayors. They are defined as those initiatives and programmes which represent a worldwide model of successful implementation of sustainable energy development concepts in urban settings. Any private or public body that has developed such a programme or initiative in at least one city and is endorsed by the Mayor of a city having signed up to the Covenant is eligible to apply to become Benchmark of Excellence to the Covenant of Mayors.
As can be seen in the Good Practice and Case Studies sections of this website, there are already a number of existing local and regional energy actions that could apply to become Benchmarks of Exellence.
Further information on Benchmarks of Excellence can be found online at:
www.eumayors.eu/benchmarks_of_excellence/index_en.htm
On 31 March 2009, the European Commission adopted the 2009 Work Programme of the Intelligent Energy - Europe (IEE) Programme aiming at co-financing non-technology projects to promote energy efficiency, renewable energy and clean transport.
For the first time financial support will be provided for technical assistance helping cities to develop bankable projects or investment programmes in the field of urban sustainable energy. 15 million euro is foreseen for developing the potential of municipalities and regions to accelerate local investments, notably in buildings and urban transport.
Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs welcomed the initiative and said: "It is a real breakthrough that will help cities to contribute to the Community objectives of mitigating climate change while allowing for investments that will generate local jobs.”
The financial facility, ELENA (European Local Energy Assistance), should be operational by the end of 2009 and it will be jointly operated by the European Investment Bank and the Commission. 15 million euro which are earmarked for local or regional authorities including those adhering to the Covenant of Mayors Initiative with the commitment to contribute to the objective of the EU sustainable energy policy, i.e. to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by at least 20% by 2020. It will help those local authorities to obtain large scale loans from development banks such as the European Investment Bank.
Projects eligible under the facility include renovation of public and private buildings, street lighting, integration of renewable energy sources into the built environment, district heating/cooling networks based on combined heat and power (CHP) and decentralised CHP systems. Another important area supported under the facility is urban transport to support increased energy efficiency and integration of renewable energy sources and to facilitate the introduction of electric cars.
Having in mind the potential of current 476 Covenant of Mayors' signatory cities, the Facility aims to provide tangible support for implementation of their Sustainable energy action plans and thus mobilize the local sustainable development, creation of new jobs and climate change mitigation.
Information on this new Facility was presented by the European Investment Bank (EIB) during the ManagEnergy Annual Conference 2009.
| Launch of the Covenant of Mayors, January 2008 | |
| Reflecting the strong links between the aims of ManagEnergy and the Covenant of Mayors, the Covenant was launched during the ManagEnergy Annual Conference 2008 Round Table Session: The Covenant of Mayors for Energy Efficiency, which included contributions from the Committee of the Regions and presentations and interviews with the Mayors or their representative from the cities of London, Berlin, Milan, Riga, Bonn, Nantes, Helsinki, Heidelberg, Munich and Cork. | |
| Covenant of Mayors Signature Ceremony, February 2009 | |
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The European Commission continued to promote the Covenant of Mayors via ManagEnergy and other activities during 2008. By February 2009 it had gathered pace and 372 cities from thirty countries had signed up for the Covenant of Mayors and a further 104 cities had expressed an interest. On 10 February 2009, the European Commission held a Press Conference, followed by a prestigious, high visibility Signature Ceremony at which all signatory authorities, together with top representatives of the EU institutions, attended. The Ceremony took place in the European Parliament’s Hemicycle in Brussels and was one of the highlights of the 2009 EU Sustainable Energy Week in Brussels. On the same day, the European Commission's Covenant of Mayors Office launched its new website: www.eumayors.eu and in the two weeks following the launch, a further 70 cities had joined online, with many more joining since. |
| New Opportunities for Local Energy Actors, February 2009 | |
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The plenary session of the 2009 ManagEnergy Annual Conference focused on New Opportunities for Local Energy Actors and aimed to guide and assist local and regional actors as they take on the challenges offered by the Covenant of Mayors. As illustrated in the relevant sections above, the event included presentations from ManagEnergy, the Covenant of Mayors Office, the Joint Research Council (JRC) and the European Investment Bank on their roles in supporting the Covenant of Mayors. |
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| Details of events since March 2009 can be found on the Covenant of Mayors website. | |
| During the ManagEnergy Annual Conference 2009, Mr. Joan Antoni Baron Espinar, Member of Barcelona Provincial Council and Mayor of Mataró presented the Experience of Barcelona Provincial Council with supporting local actors. Presentation (126 Kb PDF) |