Convention of Mayors

The Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy ( English Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy ) is a movement of people to the cities involved as part voluntarily to increase energy efficiency and use of sustainable undertake energy sources . The self-imposed goal of the signatories of the convention is to exceed the energy policy requirements of the European Union to reduce CO ₂ emissions by 20% by 2020.

As part of the EU's 2020 climate and energy package presented in 2008 , the European Commission set up the Covenant of Mayors to support municipalities in implementing sustainable energy policies.

The Covenant of Mayors was praised by European institutions as a flagship project of multilevel politics, not least because it is an unprecedented movement that motivates local and regional actors to meet EU goals.

Merger with the Compact of Mayors

In October 15, 2015, the has Covenant of Mayors ( English Covenant of Mayors ) with the initiative Compact of Mayors together. The now Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy ( English Global Covenant of Mayors ) unites over 7000 cities that voluntarily commit themselves to their CO ₂ to reduce emissions and adapt to the consequences of climate change.

Signatory of the Mayors' Convention

All local authorities , regardless of their size - from small municipalities to capital cities to large metropolitan areas - can sign the Covenant of Mayors.

Cities and municipalities play a crucial role in climate protection, as they are responsible for the consumption of 75% of the energy generated in the EU and a similar proportion of CO ₂ emissions. Municipalities are also in a good position to change the behavior of their citizens and to deal comprehensively with climate and energy issues. B. are able to mediate between public and private interests and integrate strategies for sustainable energy into local development goals.

By signing the Covenant of Mayors, municipalities will have the opportunity to step up local efforts to reduce CO ₂ emissions, receive support and recognition from the EU and exchange experiences with other European cities and municipalities.

Official commitments

The signatories of the mayors' convention give much more than just a declaration of intent. In order to achieve the ambitious CO ₂ reduction goals they have set themselves, they undertake to follow certain guidelines and submit regular reports to measure the effectiveness of their measures. The signatories of the Convention undertake to fulfill the following tasks within a specified time frame:

Establish adequate administrative structures, including providing sufficient human resources to implement the necessary measures;
Creation of a CO ₂ base emissions balance according to the GHG Protocol Standard for Cities (GPC);
Submission of an action plan for sustainable energy within one year of their official accession containing concrete measures to achieve a CO ₂ emission reduction of at least 20% by 2020 ;
Submit implementation reports - every two years after submission of the Sustainable Energy Action Plan - for evaluation and review.

Signatories to the Covenant of Mayors must also ensure that local stakeholders are involved in the development of the Sustainable Energy Action Plan. For this reason, they commit to:

To share your knowledge and expertise with other municipalities;
Organize local energy days to raise public awareness of sustainable development and energy efficiency;
To participate or participate in the annual celebrations, thematic workshops and discussion groups of the Mayors' Convention;
To publicize the Covenant of Mayors in relevant forums and especially to encourage other mayors to join the Mayors' Convention.

Sustainable Energy Action Plans

In order to achieve or even exceed the ambitious energy and climate policy goals of the European Union, the signatories of the Covenant of Mayors undertake to draw up a Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP) within one year of their accession . This action plan must be adopted by the city or town council and should include the activities and actions each signatory will undertake to meet their obligations, as well as time frames and responsibilities.

Practical support and understandable suggestions regarding the development of the SEAP can be found in various technical and methodological auxiliary materials (e.g. the SEAP guide and the SEAP template, in reports on existing methods and instruments, etc.). These support materials are based on the practical experience of various municipalities and were designed in close cooperation with the Joint Research Center of the European Commission. In doing so, they provide new signatories to the Convention with clear step-by-step instructions and an explanation of the main principles. All documents can be downloaded from the library on the official website (www.eumayors.eu).

Coordination and support

Coordinators and supporters of the Convention

Do not always have the signatories of the Convention on the necessary tools and resources to create a CO ₂ -based emissions balance, to draw up the action plan for sustainable energy and to finance the proposed measures. For this reason, provinces, regions, networks and municipal associations play a crucial role in helping signatories to meet their commitments.

The Covenant's coordinators are authorities at various levels of government (national, regional) who offer the signatories advisory services on strategic issues as well as financial and technical support in the development and implementation of their action plan for sustainable energy. A distinction is made between regional coordinators (sub-national, decentralized authorities such as provinces, regions and public special-purpose associations of municipalities) and national coordinators (state public institutions such as national energy agencies and energy ministries).

Supporters of the convention are European, national and regional networks and local associations who use their lobbying, communication and networking activities to promote the mayors' convention and to support the signatories in their obligations.

Office of the Covenant of Mayors

The Office of the Covenant of Mayors (CoMO) is managed by an association of municipal and regional networks. It is made up of CEMR , the Climate Alliance , EUROCITIES and FEDARENE and is managed by Energy Cities . Funded by the European Commission , the office provides advertising, technology, and administrative assistance to Convention signatories and stakeholders. It also coordinates and manages the initiative.

European Union institutions

In order to support the signatories in drawing up and implementing their action plans for sustainable energy, the European Commission has been involved in the development of financial instruments that specifically benefit the signatories of the Covenant of Mayors. For example the ELENA facility (European Local Energy Assistance), which was set up together with the European Investment Bank especially for large-scale projects; and ELENA-KfW, which was set up in cooperation with the KfW banking group and mobilizes sustainable investments for small and medium-sized municipalities as a supplement.

In addition to the European Commission , the Covenant of Mayors enjoys full institutional support from bodies such as the Committee of the Regions , which promoted the initiative from the start, the European Parliament , where the first two signing ceremonies took place; and the European Investment Bank , which advises local authorities on investment issues.

Joint research center

The Joint Research Center of the European Commission is responsible for the technical and scientific support to the initiative. It works closely with the office of the Covenant of Mayors to provide the signatories with clear technical guidelines and templates, to help them meet their obligations and to measure the implementation and success of the measures.

Members

At the end of November 2013, the convention had more than 5,300 members, representing around 170 million people. Most of the member cities are in Italy (2629) and Spain (1463), in Luxembourg only two. There are 53 member cities in Germany and 11 in Austria.

In addition to the municipalities from EU countries, there are also members from European non-EU countries such as Switzerland, Turkey and the Ukraine and non-European member municipalities and the like. a. in New Zealand, Kyrgyzstan, Morocco, Argentina.

Web links

Individual evidence

^ The Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy. (PDF) Retrieved on October 19, 2017 (declaration by the Convention).

↑ Mayors want to exceed EU climate targets. (No longer available online.) In: Euractiv. February 11, 2009, archived from the original on May 30, 2012 ; Retrieved October 19, 2017 .

↑ Global initiative by mayors for climate protection: New Alliance represents over 7,100 cities. City of Heidelberg, June 27, 2016

↑ New framework for 2030 and integration of adaptation strategies. ( Memento of the original from July 12, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy, accessed on July 12, 2016 @1@ 2

↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from May 14, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2
↑ eumayors.eu (PDF)
↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from April 17, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2
↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from April 13, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Covenant website, accessed November 30, 2013 @1@ 2

[1] The Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy. (PDF) Retrieved on October 19, 2017 (declaration by the Convention).

[2] Mayors want to exceed EU climate targets. (No longer available online.) In: Euractiv. February 11, 2009, archived from the original on May 30, 2012 ; Retrieved October 19, 2017 .

[3] Global initiative by mayors for climate protection: New Alliance represents over 7,100 cities. City of Heidelberg, June 27, 2016