I have signed a partnership agreement to be Covenant Coordinator in 2015 or before, do I have to join the new initiative?

No, there is no obligation for existing Covenant of Mayors Coordinators to join the new initiative. The administration 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 measures. You should however encourage signatories of your territory to join the new initiative in order to scale up their ambitions.

I am not a Covenant Coordinator yet and I would like to join the new initiative, how can I join?

To obtain the status of Covenant Coordinator or to renew your commitment, please refer to "How to apply".

If your administration is interested in becoming an official Covenant Coordinator, it should go through the following process:

• Fill-in the on-line 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 administration that will allow you to actively participate in the Covenant of Mayors community and help you better support your associated signatories.

The advantages of becoming Covenant Coordinator 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.
• Scientific and technical feedback on tools and methodologies developed.
• 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 administration as Covenant Coordinator, 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 to increase the visibility of your administration.

Through My Covenant, you can:

• Keep your profile but also the local authorities’ profiles associated to yours, always up-to-date;
• Invite signatories to be linked to your online profile;
• Keep track of your signatory’s progress (SEAP, SECAP, monitoring...);
• Submit a 18-month extension of your signatories SEAP submission deadline. See how to request an extension;
• Request a 18-month extension of your signatories monitoring submission deadline. See how to request an extension;
• 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 in discussion groups;
• Publish your events in the agenda;
• Network with the Covenant community (through the 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.

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.

I 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.

The 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.