Local and regional leaders become new EU climate action ambassadors
Local and regional leaders from across Europe reinstated their commitment to tackling climate change by becoming Ambassadors of the Covenant of Mayors. In the presence of the EU i Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy - Arias Cañete - the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) launched the group of climate Ambassadors where its members pledged to promote the environmental and economic benefits of the Covenant of Mayors.
The Covenant of Mayors was launched in 2008 and voluntarily commits cities and regions to meet and exceed EU climate and energy targets currently set at cutting 20% greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels, reaching 20% of EU energy from renewables and 20% improvement in energy efficiency by 2020. To date more than 6,700 authorities - representing more than 200 million people - have signed up. Today's Ambassadors will see members of the CoR - the EU's assembly of local and regional authorities - encouraging more regions and cities to join the Covenant.
Speaking in Brussels the President of the European Committee of the Regions, Markku Markkula, said, "Last year's Paris climate talks openly acknowledged that every level of government must work side-by-side to take action on climate change. I am extremely pleased to see that already more than 30 CoR members coming from 21 countries have committed to becoming Covenant of Mayors Ambassadors and spreading the word as part of these efforts. We now call on every town and region to take up the mantle and join the Covenant".
Commissioner Arias Cañete said: "I praise the involvement of the European Committee of the Regions and its support to Europe's energy transition. Local and regional authorities are the main actors when it comes to delivering climate and energy solutions on the ground and leading to a cleaner, low-carbon EU. The Covenant of Mayors demonstrates the huge potential we have to cooperate, work together and deliver on our climate and energy objectives, in particular our Paris commitment. But this is only the beginning of our journey. We need all regions and cities on board. We need to support each other and double our efforts to make the clean energy transition a reality".
The new group of Covenant of Mayors Ambassadors is composed of local and regional elected politicians whose regions and cities are already signatories of the Covenant. They will become climate emissaries, speaking at international events and encouraging towns, cities and regions to join the Covenant of Mayors. Covenant signatories are supported by the EU, facilitating technical and financial assistance for the design and implementation of sustainable energy and climate measures.
Ms Kata Tütto , member of the Local Government of District 12 in Budapest, rapporteur of the opinion 'The future of the Covenant of Mayors', and member of the CoR's COP21 delegation declared: "I am proud of becoming a Covenant of Mayors Ambassadors and encourage other cities to join this great community where cities can find technical assistance, direct information on funding programmes and a lot of great experience to learn from".
From the 350 members of the CoR, 185 come from EU regions and cities that have already joined the Covenant of Mayors. Covenant signatories must submit Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan (SECAP) to the EU covering both adaptation and mitigation actions showing their contributions in cutting CO2 emissions. The SECAP is based on a Baseline Emission Inventory and a Climate Risk and Vulnerability Assessment.
The European Committee of the Regions is supporting the European Commission on the globalisation of the Covenant of Mayors by mobilising its Mediterranean and Eastern networks ARLEM and CORLEAP. During the forthcoming COP22 in Marrakesh, the CoR is planning to organise a Cities Summit to discuss the implementation of the Paris climate agreement, reinforce the call for multilevel governance on climate issues and motivate mayors in Morocco and from other countries to join the Covenant of Mayors.
www.cor.europa.eu/covenantambassadors
Notes for editors:
Brochure on the opinion on the future of the Covenant of Mayors
Opinion: The future of the Covenant of Mayors (CDR 2592/2015)
Outlook Opinion "Climate change mainstreaming and the future EU budget" (CdR 104/2011)
Opinion "A resource efficient Europe - Flagship initiative of the EU 2020 Strategy" (CdR 140/2011)
CoR - Covenant of Mayors 2020 Leaflet
For more information about ARLEM click here
For more information about CORLEAP click here
Contact:
David Crous
+32 (0) 476 87 99 29