The European Commission recognizes Covenant Coordinators as important allies to support Covenant of Mayors signatories to meet their commitments and increase the impact of the Covenant.
Typical tasks to be undertaken by a Covenant Coordinator include:
- Promote accession to the Covenant of Mayors and support experience and knowledge sharing between (existing and potential) Covenant Signatories.
- Provide technical and strategic assistance to signatory municipalities for the development, implementation and monitoring of their Sustainable Energy Action Plans / Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plans.
- Provide financial support to signatories, either in the form of direct support (grants, subsidies, etc.) and/or via human resources allocated to technical support.
- Work in partnership with other Covenant National/Territorial Coordinators and Supporters to foster joint action and promote a coordinated approach.
- Participate in Covenant of Mayors activities and help identify relevant events where the Covenant of Mayors could be promoted.
- Report regularly, and not less than every two years, to the Covenant of Mayors Office on the activities carried out to support signatories and participate in the strategic implementation of the Covenant.
Covenant Coordinators’ participation in the initiative will be suspended by the Covenant of Mayors Office in case of non-compliance with the above-mentioned commitments.
Covenant Coordinators are public authorities that are in a position to provide strategic guidance, technical and financial support to Covenant of Mayors signatories and municipalities willing to sign up to it.
Alongside financial assistance, Covenant Coordinators typically support signatories in conducting a CO2 emission inventory and/or a climate risk assessment, as well as in preparing and implementing their Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plans.
European Commission recognizes two types of Coordinators:
- Covenant Territorial Coordinators are decentralized authorities, such as regions, provinces or grouping of local authorities,
- Covenant National Coordinators are national public bodies such as ministries or national energy agencies.
The list of Covenant Coordinators may be found here.
Covenant Supporters and the Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy
Written by Raphael ChateletI have signed a partnership agreement to be Covenant Supporter in 2015 or before, do I have to join to the new initiative?
No, there is no obligation for existing Covenant of Mayors Supporters, LAREAs or Associated Partners to join the new initiative. The organization will keep its status, and can decide if and when to renew its commitments to support signatories in achieving their targets for 2030, and develop their adaptation actions. You should however encourage your members and signatories of your territory to join the new initiative in order to scale up their ambitions.
I am not a Covenant Supporter yet and I would like to join the new initiative, how can I join?
To obtain the status of Covenant Supporter or to renew your commitment, please refer to "How to apply"
If your organization is interested in becoming an official Covenant Supporter, it should go through the following process:
- Fill in the online adhesion form.
- After confirmation of eligibility, fill-in and sign the commitment statement you will receive, and send it back to the Covenant Helpdesk (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)
Upon reception of the duly filled-in and signed commitment statement, the Covenant of Mayors Office will create an online profile for your organization that will allow you to actively participate in the Covenant of Mayors community and help you better support your associated signatories.
How, in practice, are Covenant Supporters involved in the initiative and what are the benefits?
Written by Raphael ChateletThe advantages of becoming Covenant Supporter are manifold:
- Endorsement and recognition from the European Commission.
- Large visibility on an international scale, notably through promotion of their actions on the Covenant website.
- Networking and experience and knowledge-sharing with European counterparts.
- Participation in dedicated discussion groups, workshops and other experience-sharing platforms.
- Last but not least, consolidation of territorial development and strengthening of local governance.
In practice, your organization as Covenant Supporter has access to the password-protected area of the website ’My Covenant’, which offers a platform to share information and key data with the whole Covenant community, and increase the visibility of your organization.
Through My Covenant, you can:
- Keep your profile always up-to-date;
- Make your Benchmarks of Excellence (i.e. your key implemented actions) visible to the Covenant community and beyond.
- Upload and share useful resources on the Capacity sharing platform, and participate to discussion groups.
- Publish your events in the agenda.
- Network with the Covenant community (through forums, webinars, events …) and get inspired by their actions.
The extranet (My Covenant) and the public profile are synchronized: most of the information you enter in the extranet directly feeds into the public website.
Having expert knowledge of the regulatory, legislative and financial framework under which they operate, Covenant Supporters are ideally placed to provide tailored advice to signatories and identify synergies with existing initiatives.
They can also provide technical expertise to Covenant signatories. Tasks to be undertaken by a Covenant Supporter include:
- Promote the Covenant of Mayors initiative, mobilizing existing and potential signatories (adaptation of Covenant promotional materials to the national or regional context, inform about it through newsletters, website, workshops, events).
- Support and advise Covenant of Mayors signatories.
- Support exchanges and share knowledge, experiences, best practices, tools or resources relevant to Covenant signatories.
- Work in Partnership with other Covenant Supporters and National/Territorial Coordinators, Signatories and stakeholders involved in the Covenant of Mayors-related policies to foster joint action and promote a coordinated approach.
- Better accompany their activities of own members and/or local authorities on sustainable energy and adaptation to climate change
- Participate in Covenant of Mayors activities, and help identify relevant events where the Covenant of Mayors could be promoted.
- Report regularly, and not less than every two years, to the Covenant of Mayors Office on the activities carried out in the framework of the initiative, and participate in the strategic implementation of the Covenant.
Covenant Supporters’ participation in the initiative will be suspended by the Covenant of Mayors Office in case of non-compliance with the above-mentioned commitments.
Covenant Supporters are associations of local and regional authorities, networks, thematic local and regional agencies and not-for-profit organizations with the capacity to promote the Covenant of Mayors and to mobilize and support their members and/or local authorities to attain the Covenant of Mayors' objectives. They leverage their advocacy, communication and networking activities to promote the Covenant of Mayors initiative and support the commitments of their signatories.
The list of Covenant Supporters may be found here.
What is available for local authorities under the Horizon 2020 programme?
Written by Raphael ChateletHorizon 2020 is the main EU Research and Innovation programme with nearly €80 billion of funding available over seven years (2014 to 2020). The programme is structured in three main pillars: Excellent Science, Industrial Leadership and Societal Challenges. These pillars are divided into different priority areas. Two areas are of particular interest to local authorities: ‘Secure, Clean and Efficient Energy’ and ‘Smart, Green and Integrated Transport’.
The main priorities identified for local authorities under the area of ‘Secure, Clean and Efficient Energy’ for each focus area are as follows:
- Energy Efficiency: EE-5, EE-6, EE-8, EE-9, EE-10, EE-11, EE-15, EE-19, EE-22, EE-23, EE-24, EE-25.
- Competitive Low-Carbon Energy: LCE-21
- Smart Cities and Communities: SCC-1, SCC-02, SCC-03
- Other actions: B.1.4. Innovative financing for sustainable energy (EIB-ELENA Facility)
With respect to the area of ‘Smart, Green and Integrated Transport’, some of the main priorities identified under the ‘Mobility for Growth’ call are:
- Urban mobility: MG-4.4, MG-4.5,
- Logistics: MG-5.3
- Intelligent transport systems: MG-6.1, MG-6.2, MG-6.3
- Socio-economic and behavioral research and forward-looking activities for policy making: MG-8.4, MG-8.5
For more information:
- See all calls under Horizon 2020 here.
- General information on Horizon 2020, including how to apply for funding, can be found here.
For any question related to the Energy Efficiency Call, contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or your H2020 National Contact Point.
On the Covenant of Mayors website, you can find inspiration for your local energy days in the agenda of CoM-relevant events.
Furthermore, every year the European Commission hosts the European Sustainable Energy Week (EUSEW) focusing on energy efficiency and renewable energy solutions. An essential part of EUSEW is the Local Energy Days, organized by local authorities throughout Europe.
A Local Energy Day is defined as a not-for-profit event, activity, project, exhibition or display that promotes energy efficiency or renewable energy. Activities such as exhibitions, conferences, online events, performances, guided tours, open door days, workshops, media campaigns and concerts are all eligible.
Full support from EUSEW is available by This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Why organise Local Climate and Energy Days?
Written by Raphael ChateletAs the Action Plan concerns the whole territory - not only municipal buildings and vehicles but also private housing, tertiary sector and transport - it is thus crucial to involve local stakeholders and citizens in the preparation and implementation of the Action Plan.
Each Covenant signatory can increase the level of their involvement through efficient communication and awareness raising activities focused on their energy and climate objectives.
More...
A Climate and Energy Day is a local event that aims to raise public awareness on issues such as energy efficiency, the use of renewable energy sources, resilience to climate change and the links between energy and climate change. Usually organized during a specific period, the types of events may vary, but often include activities such as workshops, exhibitions, guided visits and open-door days. Examples of local Energy Days in the Covenant online agenda.
Energy Days may also be held together with other events (for example, with the day of the city/town) organized by municipal authorities and/or other organizations.
During event organization attention should be paid to availability of such information materials as brochures, leaflets, prospectuses that facilitate access of residents and event participants to information.
Benchmarks of Excellence are proposed as relevant examples of local initiatives which Covenant Signatories, Coordinators and Supporters have realized in their territories and feel particularly proud of, and moreover endorse as useful actions for other local authorities to replicate.
The Benchmarks of Excellence catalogue provides an online platform for promoting good practices and showcasing actions that have a large replication potential. The catalogue can be explored here.
When submitting their Monitoring template, Covenant signatories are required to submit at least three implemented actions as Benchmarks of Excellence, for which they shall provide more detailed information.
Covenant signatories have to do the following actions:
- Log in to 'My Covenant'.
- Go to 'My Action Plan' > 'My Sustainable Energy Action Plan' and select among their list actions to be highlighted as Benchmarks of Excellence by clicking on the 'star' icon. Please note that only actions currently in place are eligible for submission.
Fill in all the information in English or Russian: provide a short description of the highlighted actions along with key figures in terms of CO2 reduction, energy savings, renewable energy, implementation cost and/or jobs created.
Covenant Coordinators and Supporters should adopt the following procedure:
- Log in to 'My Covenant'.
- Go to 'My Benchmarks' > 'Add a new Benchmark'.
- Complete all the information in English or Russian, including a short description, the signatories involved and the category to which the Benchmark of Excellence refers.
Note: The Covenant of Mayors Office reserves the right to remove from the public website any submitted Benchmark of Excellence, if the information provided is incomplete and/or if, in the case of signatories' Benchmarks, the action is not in the implementation stage.
How to request an extension of your monitoring template submission deadline?
Written by Raphael ChateletTo request an extension of the deadline for submitting your monitoring template please provide a short explanation for the extension request to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. You will receive a confirmation, when the extension has been granted.
If you are an individual Signatory (i.e. not belonging to any official Covenant Coordinator):
A 9-month extension may be granted to individual Signatories where circumstances, outside the local authority’ control, delay the completion and submission of the monitoring report by the official submission date.
If you belong to an official Covenant Coordinator:
When supported by an official Covenant Coordinator, the Coordinator can ask for an 18-months extension for all supported signatories.