Vision, ambition and scope of action The Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy was launched on 15 October 2015 at the Joint Covenant of Mayors and Mayors Adapt Ceremony, where a long-term vision and new commitments towards 2030 were endorsed.
This initiative defines renewed commitment(s) and a shared long-term vision in order to tackle interconnected challenges: climate change mitigation, adaptation and access to secure, sustainable and affordable energy for all.
The vision is threefold and includes:
- Accelerating the decarbonization of our territories, thus contributing to keeping average global warming below 2°C.
- Strengthening our capacities to adapt to unavoidable climate change impacts, thus making our territories more resilient.
- Increasing energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy sources on our territories, thus ensuring universal access to secure, sustainable and affordable energy services for all.
The initiative also proposes a new “global chapter” by inviting signatories to share their vision, results, experience and know-how with fellow local and regional authorities within the EU and beyond via decentralized cooperation and city-to-city twinning.
Commitments
By 2030, signatories commit to reducing carbon emissions across their territory by at least 30%, to increasing their resilience to the impacts of climate change and strengthening their efforts to provide access to secure, sustainable and affordable energy for all.
To translate commitments into action, a signatory commits to submitting a Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan (SECAP) within two years following the local council decision and formal signing, including the mainstreaming of adaptation considerations into relevant policies, strategies and plans.
