Fourth Meeting of the Covenant of Mayors Club Held in Yerevan, Armenia

On January 22, 2025, the fourth meeting of the Covenant of Mayors Club in Armenia took place in Yerevan, Armenia as part of the EU-funded “Covenant of Mayors Eastern Partnership” (CoM East) project. The meeting gathered key stakeholders, including Armen Simonyan, Deputy Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure of Armenia, H.E. Vassilis Maragos, Ambassador to Armenia, Christoph Frering, Team Leader of CoM East, and other representatives of Covenant signatories, partner organisations, and experts.

During his welcome speech, Ambassador Maragos highlighted the European Union’s commitment to continuing cooperation with Armenia across various sectors, including municipalities, the private sector, and local institutions. He underlined the significance of implementing local energy and climate action plans (SECAPs) under the Covenant of Mayors framework.

“The action plans are for everyone and should be implemented at the local level, alongside local government stakeholders,” Mr Maragos noted.

He also introduced the EU’s €270 million Resilience and Growth Plan for Armenia (2024-2027), aimed at supporting energy diversification and security through investments in renewable energy and an upgraded transmission network with Georgia.

Armen Simonyan emphasized the importance of local communities in driving sustainable development strategies. He urged local self-government bodies to engage more actively in discussions and initiatives to ensure progress. “With joint efforts, we can achieve positive changes and ensure sustainable development,” he stated.

Christoph Frering expressed the importance of the Covenant Club as an effective platform for open dialogue among municipalities and national stakeholders. “Cities aim to become energy-efficient and resilient to climate change, but they require the right legal and regulatory framework,” he said, affirming CoM East’s support for overcoming these barriers.

During the meeting, participants voted in new leadership for the Club. Sarik Minasyan, Acting Mayor of Gyumri, was elected as the new Chairman, while Armen Grigoryan, Mayor of Stepanavan, became the Vice-Chair. Both will serve on the CoM East Board.

Presentations were made on various topics, including:

• Reflecting on regional success of CoM East in EaP countries (by Christophe Frering, CoM East Team Leader)
• Bridging the gap: transforming municipal energy and climate action plans into fundable projects through tailored technical assistance (by Maksym Vereshchak, Deputy Team Leader of CoM East)
• Project progress in Armenia: highlights of CoM East achievements and outline of future initiatives, (by Artem Kharazyan, CoM East Country Expert in Armenia)
• Overview of communication activities and organization of EUSEW (by Tatevik Harutyunyan, Local Communication Expert, CoM East)
• Support of the RA Government to the sustainable development of communities (by Ashot Giloyan, Head of Local Self-Governance Policy Department, Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures of RA)
• Activities of the R2E2 Fund to promote RE and EE in communities of Armenia, (by Hrant Ter-Gabrielyan, Head of Project Implementation and Engineering Department, R2E2 Fund, a Covenant Supporter)
• Helping CoM East signatories fulfill their commitments under the Covenant of Mayors: developing a municipal climate and energy action plans for Gyumri and Yerevan (by Astghine Pasoyan, Director of Foundation to Save Energy (Covenant Supporter)
• Co-financing and support for the EE modernization of municipal and residential buildings in Armenian communities (by Vahram Jalalyan, “De-risking and Scaling-up Investment in Energy Efficient Building Retrofits” UNDP-GCF Project Manager)
• Advancing communities’ sustainable and resilient development in Armenia (by Siranush Galstyan and Mr Aghasi Mnatsyan, ECOserve/ SE4Resilience, GIZ Armenia, and Mr Hovik Sayadyan, PROGRESS/EU4Climate Resilience, GIZ Armenia)
• Activities of Mayors for Economic Growth (M4EG) project in Armenia (by Krist Marukyan, M4EG Armenia Program Coordinator)

The Covenant of Mayors Club in Armenia, established in March 2019, aims to enhance policy dialogue among local, national, and international stakeholders. It focuses on creating an environment conducive to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening resilience, and addressing climate change’s adverse effects. The Club also fosters collaboration and information exchange to ensure synergy between municipal projects and relevant initiatives.