During a conference of the Covenant of Mayors held today in Heidelberg, representatives of 50 German local authorities have launched the German Covenant Club. Inspired by the French model, this initiative will foster networking among German Covenant of Mayors signatories in order to elaborate common positions and to give more weight to political requests addressed to the national and EU level.
Bundling forces for the energy transition
Eckart Würzner, Mayor of the city of Heidelberg, President of Energy Cities since 2006, has played a leading role in giving birth to this Club. “We will join our forces to campaign for higher feed-in tariffs for electricity from renewables or cogeneration, for tax incentives for energy refurbishments, for a grid-connected renewable electricity, for regional or federal funding for public transport projects.”, he said at the conference.
The conference participants bundling forces for CO2 emissions reductions - Photographer : Christian Buck
Indeed, the strength of the Covenant of Mayors does not only lie in its impressive number of signatories, which last week exceeded the landmark threshold of 3000. It is also a proof that cities are taking their energy and climate responsibilities seriously. Ulrike Janssen, executive director of Climate Alliance and Gérard Magnin, executive director of Energy Cities, were also present at the conference. Mr. Magnin stressed the fact that the energy transition is already ongoing at the local level.
With its numerous sustainable energy initiatives, Heidelberg undoubtedly ranks among the pioneers in the field. Its participation in the European project ENGAGE is one of the most recent illustrations of its on-going efforts to involve citizens and stakeholders.
Image : Eckart Würzner, Mayor of Heidelberg, is one of hundreds of local stars of the ENGAGE poster campaign committing to energy and climate
EU Commissioner Oettinger welcomes the German Covenant Club
In a video message to the participants, EU Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger stated : “The European Union needs cities which are innovative to reach the objective of a carbon-neutral European economy in the next 40 years. […] It is clear that we will only succeed with an energy transition if this is a shared responsibility with the citizens.” Mr. Oettinger congratulated the German Covenant Club initiative and said : “I see the Covenant of Mayors as an important basis for our common energy strategies.”
Currently national Covenant Clubs are being created in a total of 12 European countries. They are coordinated by Energy Cities and Climate Alliance in the framework of the IEE-funded NETCom project. The Club members will meet twice a year. In addition, regular exchanges are to take place via an online discussion forum.
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