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Covenant of Mayors


The Covenant of Mayors is a European co-operation movement involving local and regional authorities. Signatories of the Covenant of Mayors voluntarily commit to increasing energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy sources on their territories. By their commitment, they support the European Union 20% CO2 reduction objective to be reached by 2020.

After the European Union climate and energy package was adopted in 2008, the European Commission launched the Covenant of Mayors to endorse and support the efforts deployed by local authorities in the implementation of sustainable energy policies.

European local authorities of all sizes – from small villages to capitals and major metropolitan areas – are eligible to sign up as Covenant of Mayors Signatories.

Cities, towns and other urban areas have a crucial role to play in mitigating climate change, as they consume three quarter of the energy produced in the European Union and are responsible for a similar share of CO2 emissions. Local authorities are also in a position to change citizens' behaviour and address climate and energy questions in a comprehensive manner, notably by conciliating public and private interests and by integrating sustainable energy issues into overall local development goals.

To meet the CO2 reduction targets they set themselves, signatories commit to a series of steps and accept to report and be monitored on their actions. Within predefined time frames, they formally undertake to fulfil the following:

To comply with the crucial necessity of mobilising local stakeholders in the development of the Sustainable Energy Action Plans, signatories also undertake to:

To reach and try to exceed the European Union energy and climate objectives, Covenant of Mayors signatories commit to develop a Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP), within a year following their adhesion to the initiative. This action plan, approved by the municipal council, outlines the activities and measures foreseen by signatories to fulfil their commitments, with corresponding time frames and assigned responsibilities.

Various technical and methodological supporting materials (including the "SEAP Guidebook" and template, reports on existing methodologies and tools, etc.) offer practical guidance and clear recommendations on the whole SEAP development process. Based on the practical experiences of local authorities and developed in close co-operation with the European Commission Joint Research Centre, this support package provides Covenant signatories with key principles and a clear step-by-step approach. All documents are downloadable on the www.eumayors.eu website library.


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