Uniting thousands of local and regional authorities voluntarily pledged to implement the EU's climate and energy goals

Uniting thousands of local and regional authorities voluntarily pledged to implement the EU's climate and energy goals

Local authorities play a leading role in climate change mitigation and adaptation. Participation in the Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy supports them in this endeavour, by providing them the recognition, resources and networking opportunities necessary to take their energy and climate commitments to the next level.

Who is eligible

The Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy is open to all local authorities democratically constituted with/by elected representatives, whatever their size and whatever the stage of implementation of their energy and climate policies.

Neighbouring small and medium-sized local authorities can also, under certain conditions, decide to join as a group of signatories and submit a joint Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan, either committing individually (option 1) or collectively (option 2) to the 35% CO2 reduction target and to an increased resilience to climate change – more information in the Covenant website FAQ section.

List of signatories

Why join

Covenant of Mayors signatories find multiple reasons to join the movement, which include:

Enhanced cooperation and support from national and subnational authorities

High international recognition and visibility for the local authority’s climate and energy action

Opportunity to contribute to shaping the EU’s climate and energy policy

Credible commitments through progress review and monitoring

Better financial opportunities for their local climate and energy projects

Innovative ways to network, exchange experiences and build capacity through regular events, twinings, webinars or online discussions

Practical support (helpdesk), guidance material and tools

 

How to join the initiative

To join the ever-growing movement, local authorities should undertake the following process:

Step 1

Present the Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy initiative to the municipal council. In order to facilitate the council discussion, you can download the commitment document here.

Step 2

Once an official resolution has been adopted by the council, mandate the mayor - or equivalent representative of the council - to sign the Covenant adhesion form. You can download the adhesion form here.

Step 3

After signature, complete your information online and upload your duly signed adhesion form; take note of the next steps, outlined in a confirmation e-mail sent to the local authority council.

When to join

Local authorities can sign the Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy at any time.

Signatories of the Covenant of Mayors on Climate and Energy pledge to take an integrated approach to mitigation and adaptation to climate change, as well as to facilitate the access of their citizens to sustainable, reliable and affordable energy.

Applying an integrated approach to climate change mitigation and adaptation ensures coherence, creates synergies and co-benefits, increases cost-effectiveness and helps avoid inadequate fitness.

For more information on how to develop a truly integrated approach, and how to ensure the relationship between adaptation and mitigation, read this brief article and this explanation on Climate-ADAPT.

The Mayors Adapt initiative is now fully integrated into the Covenant of Mayors

The Mayors Adapt - an initiative of the Covenant of Mayors on Climate Change Adaptation, was created by the European Commission to involve cities in actions aimed at adapting to climate change. Its implementation was launched in 2014 as an adaptation initiative that runs parallel to the Covenant of Mayors aimed at mitigating the effects of climate change. In 2015, the European Commission brought these two initiatives together in order to promote an integrated approach to climate and energy action. Starting from 2017, the adaptation component and, accordingly, the Mayors Adapt initiative have been fully integrated into the Covenant of Mayors on Climate and Energy.

What does adaptation mean for cities?

In parallel with reducing greenhouse gas emissions to mitigate the effects of climate change, cities also need to increase their own resilience to the inevitable adverse effects of climate change.

Climate change will affect all countries and cities, with some regional and local differences. Cities may be particularly vulnerable to extreme weather events, in particular to severe flooding, heat waves or extreme force storms, etc. Many of them have already experienced other effects of climate change, namely the negative impact on health, damage to buildings, disruptions in the supply of electricity and water, disruption to transport, as well as increased energy consumption for heating and cooling, contributing to further climate change and energy bills.

Adaptation creates new opportunities

Adaptation to climate change is necessary to increase the resilience of our socio-economic systems to the adverse effects of climate change. Adapting to climate change is the way to make your city safer, healthier, greener and more habitable for citizens and guests. An integrated approach to mitigation and adaptation creates many opportunities. Effective adaptation actions often help to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, primarily by limiting the overall costs of eliminating the consequences, saving natural and human resources, as well as stimulating economic growth.

Definition of Adaptation of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: Adaptation of natural or anthropogenic systems in response to real or expected climate change, which reduces its own vulnerability and makes use of favorable conditions.

Municipal adaptation strategies set the framework for enhancing resilience of countries to the effects of climate change.

Integrating adaptation into mitigation and planning policies can give mayors and political leaders the opportunity to make their cities more suitable places to live. The destruction of stereotypes in urban development stimulates investment and innovative concepts in sectors such as housing or the creation of public green spaces. Strengthening stakeholder participation provides the basis for successful cooperation between citizens and government bodies, from which further policies may also benefit in the future. By investing in preparedness for the effects of climate change, cities are becoming more attractive, healthier and safer.

What information about adaptation does the Covenant of Mayors provide?

Currently, the Monitoring and Reporting System of the Covenant of Mayors includes a section on climate change adaptation:

The Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan (SECAP) template contains an adaptation scale by which cities can make their own assessment of their adaptation status; a template for conducting risk and vulnerability assessments; and a template for developing an integrated action plan, taking into account the impact of climate change in all sectors.

Case studies and best practice examples:

The Covenant of Mayors collects case studies to inspire cities and promote peer learning from colleagues.

The e-learning module on adaptation for cities is available exclusively to the signatories of the Covenant of Mayors. This module provides practical information, case studies and links to other useful information resources.

In addition, the European Commission and the European Agency for Environmental Protection collect technical knowledge in the aspect of adaptation to climate change on the EU Climate-Adapt adaptation and information platform of the EU, providing also a lot of information and tools for city practitioners, for example, a database with more than 2,000 reference materials, adaptation newsletters with city profiles, and the Cities Support Tool in Adaptation, which serves as a step-by-step guide for cities to develop specifically for the integrated Covenant initiative. This tool helps professionals to implement an integrated adaptation policy.

Adhesion form must be signed by the mayor (or another authorized representative of the City council) for the purpose of formal joining the EU Initiative.

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Covenant Coordinators can commit to support signatories within their geographical scope in many different ways including promotion of the Covenant of Mayors, technical and/or financial support to develop and implement Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plans, networking activities involving the Covenant signatories.

See more details here

Who is eligible

Provinces, regions, ministries, metropolitan areas, groupings of local authorities… Any public authority that officially commits to providing strategic guidance, financial and technical support to Covenant signatories will be officially recognized as a Covenant Coordinator.

Should you require further clarifications, please contact the Covenant Helpdesk at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

List of Coordinators

Why join

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, experience and knowledge-sharing with European counterparts

Participation in dedicated discussion groups, workshops and other experience-sharing platforms

Scientific and technical feedback on tools and methodologies developed

Consolidation of territorial development and strengthening of local governance

 

 

 How to join

To register as an official Covenant Coordinator your organisation should go through the following steps:

Step 1

Sign the official adhesion form for Covenant Coordinators and fill in the registration form online

Step 2

After confirmation of eligibility, complete and sign the commitment statement sent by the Covenant of Mayors Office

Step 3

Upon reception of the signed commitment statement, the Covenant of Mayors Office will create an online profile for your administration. It will allow you to actively participate in the Covenant of Mayors community and help you better support your associated signatories.

When to join

Covenant Coordinators can join the Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy at any time via the registration form found to the right on this page.

The Covenant of Mayors has been active in Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries since 2011, encouraging towns and cities to sign the Covenant and supporting them with planning and implementing energy and climate actions. To date hundreds of Mayors have signed up and developed their Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plans (SECAPs).

Even small investments in energy projects can bring big rewards at the municipal level in terms of reduced energy consumption (and CO2 emissions), better local public services and also greater comfort for residents.

In order to support pilot projects, in 2014 the European Commission (EC) launched the programme ‘Sustainable Urban Demonstration Projects’, now known simply as ‘Covenant of Mayors – Demonstration Projects’.

The programme comprises:

• A grant component, with 17 projects (involving 19 local administrations) in phase I (2014-2019) and 14 projects (involving 15 local administrations) in phase II (2018-2022) whose municipal energy and climate projects were awarded funding through a Call for Proposals.
• Technical, procedural, communication and networking support from a dedicated support team

As part of their progress, all Covenant Signatories are sharing their key actions as a source of inspiration for others. In our Good Practices database you will find achievements, case studies, city profiles, videos and more!

The Covenant of Mayors Community shares useful tips.

To evaluate the progress made towards their objectives, a Covenant of Mayors signatory is requested to submit a Monitoring Report every second year after the adoption of its Action Plan related to the mitigation and adaptation actions planned and at least every four years the emission inventory af the action plan is updated in order to see the progress related to resilience to climate change, reduction of emissions and energy consumption.

You will find below the list of Monitoring Reports submitted by signatories. Use the search engine to find.

When officially joining the Covenant of Mayors, signatories commit to developing a Sustainable Energy (and Climate) Action Plan within two years.

Adopted by the local council, a signatory's action plan describes the steps towards its 2020 or 2030 targets.

You will find below all the Action Plans submitted by Covenant signatories either already accepted or currently under assessment by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre.