Global Covenant of Mayors Open House

On December 1st-4th, 2020 Global Covenant of Mayors Virtual Open House will be held.

The Open House will be comprised of a series of meetings and knowledge-sharing sessions, providing the opportunity to learn more about the global initiatives, and serve as a platform for Regional and National Covenants to exchange and share results, solutions developed and insights on delivery.

• 1^st December: at 09:00 and 16:30 (CET) there will be sessions „Bridging the funding gap – knowledge and experiences from across GCoM Regions”. These sessions will present snapshots results of the first month of activity of the GAP fund, as well as an overview of Regional funding opportunities, financing schemes, business models, recently assessed by several Regional and National Covenants. They will also showcase the results of pilot actions across Regional and national Covenants worldwide, highlighting gaps, context and conditions for success.

  The sessions will tackle the following key questions:

1. What are the main factors holding back investment on climate action and sustainable urban development?
2. What are some of the most popular innovative funding mechanisms, and what are their pros and cons?
3. What ideas would you like to replicate, and to what extent are transferable to your city context?

• 2^d December: at 09:00 and 17:00 (CET) there will be sessions „Race to Zero – building momentum for a shift to a decarbonized economy”. Race To Zero is a global campaign to rally leadership and support from businesses, cities, regions, investors for a healthy, resilient, zero carbon recovery that prevents future threats, creates decent jobs, and unlocks inclusive, sustainable growth. The objective of Race To Zero is to build momentum around the shift to a decarbonized economy ahead of COP26, at a critical time, when governments are revising and ideally strengthening their contributions to the Paris Agreement. Through taking action within Race To Zero, GCoM cities and local governments can not only show leadership, but also showcase the impressive, transformative action they implement on their own pathway to a climateneutral, resilient future.
• 4^th December: at 09:00 (CET) there will be a session „Global Covenant of Mayors Cross-Regional city exchange”. This event is organized by the EU CoM Office in collaboration with the GCoM Secretariat, and it aims to foster dialogue and exchange of good practices among GCoM signatories across the world.

  The objectives of the session include:

1. Strengthening the support of the exchange among cities across different regions and providing an opportunity to learn from each other.
2. Share good practices, innovative solutions and discussion challenges with a specific focus on ambitious plans and implementation of cross-sectoral actions.
3. Discuss the challenges of implementing increasingly ambitious plans to meet climate neutrality, and be inspired by peers.
4. Facilitating a deep-dive into three critical topics :
   – Implementing cross-sectoral actions and reaping the co-benefits;
   – Accelerating adaptation and ecosystem services;
   – Closing the funding gap and enhancing bankability.
5. Identify gaps of knowledge, needs for technical assistance and support by GCoM Secretariat as well as National and Regional Covenants.

• 4^th December: at 12:00 (CET) there will be a working meeting „National & Regional Covenant Secretariats and Helpdesks exchange”. This meeting will provide a space to discuss the latest GCoM’s developments at both global and regional levels. 

For more information please follow the link.