Energie-Cités officially becomes a Covenant of Mayors’ “supporting structure”

By Miriam Eisermann on 28 July 2009

Energie-Cités has joined the group of twenty or so Covenant of Mayors’ Supporting Structures composed of regional and local public administrations and local authority networks already engaged in relaying the initiative.

Following the agreement signed between Eckart Würzner, Mayor of Heidelberg and President of Energie-Cités, and the European Commission, we undertake to support our members as they join the initiative and take local measures aimed at guaranteeing a 20% reduction in CO2 emissions on their territory.

As part of Energie-Cités’ commitment, we will:

• Reinforce our promotional actions in favour of the Covenant of Mayors as regards our members as well as any city or partner organisation,
• Publicise our members’ initiatives and action plans as a source of inspiration for other cities,
• Develop the exchange of experience and expertise as well as the availability of tools aimed at preparing and implementing action plans,
• Create a “Covenant of Mayors” task force composed of Board members in order to relay the expectations of the cities engaged in the initiative and put forward proposals.

Energie-Cités already involved in the Covenant

• Over 65 Energie-Cités town and city members are already involved in the Covenant of Mayors and are working on their Action Plan. Many others of you are in the process of joining the Covenant.
• Several collective members of Energie-Cités in Poland (PNEC), Bulgaria (Eco-Energia) and Ukraine (EECU) acting as Supporting Structures in their respective countries are promoting the Covenant of Mayors.

As most of you already know, Energie-Cités has been asking for an EU initiative aimed at stimulating local authorities’ policies and actions in the field of energy since its creation, some twenty years ago. It was therefore with much enthusiasm that Energie Cités welcomed the Covenant of Mayors and rapidly got involved by becoming a key partner, especially through the co-ordination of the Covenant Secretariat composed of the following local authority networks: Climate Alliance, CEMR, Eurocities and Fedarene, as well as PRACSIS, a communications agency.

It is an ambitious gamble but Energie-Cités knows it can count on the political commitment of its members and on the technical expertise of their services as well as on an institutional framework that benefits from the European Commission’s support.

This commitment is the best possible contribution to the success of COP15 which should be determinant for the post-Kyoto period.

Member cities having signed the Covenant can request assistance from

• their regular contact person at Energie-Cités
• the general helpdesk at info@eumayors.eu

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