European Initiative to Include Support for Renewables at Local Level
BRUSSELS, Belgium.
The European Commission has launched "the most ambitious initiative to date involving the citizens in the fight against global warming."
The 'Covenant of Mayors' was developed from informal consultations with numerous cities across the continent, whose mayors will make a formal commitment to go beyond the objectives of the EU in terms of reducing CO2 emissions through renewable energy and energy efficiency actions. Almost 100 cities, including 15 capitals, have expressed early support for the Covenant.
"Cities are becoming the places to deliver new ideas and innovative projects against global warming," explains energy commissioner Andris Piebalgs. "The approach to tackle the climate crisis challenge can only be holistic, integrated, long-term and, most of all, based on the participation of citizens."
"This complex picture is best managed at local level," he adds. "Cities must therefore become leading actors for implementing sustainable energy policies, and must be supported in their effort."
The Covenant of Mayors will focus on results from concrete projects and measurable results. Participating cities and regions will formally commit to reduce their CO2 emission by more than 20% by 2020, through the development of Sustainable Energy Action Plans. Citizens will be informed of the achievements of their respective cities through periodic reports, which can be monitored by a third party.
The European Commission will support the sharing of best practices to the cities through a 'benchmarks for excellence' mechanism. It will also negotiate the terms of the involvement of other major stakeholders in the Covenant and fund a secretariat to facilitate monitoring, networking and promotion tasks of the challenge.
Among the cities which have expressed interest include London , Helsinki , Riga , Berlin , Bonn , Milan , Venezia, Nantes , Ljubljana and Warsaw . They will produce a final version of the Covenant text through a formal consultation while, in parallel, a number of high level meetings will determine the terms of participation of financial entities and the benchmarks for excellence.
The first group of Covenant cities will formalise their adhesion no later than the next EU Sustainable Energy Week.
Press Release: The European Commission launches the Covenant of Mayors
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