The Covenant of Mayors in the fight against climate change
The Covenant of Mayors is the mainstream European movement involving local and regional authorities in the fight against climate change. It is based on a voluntary commitment by signatories to meet and exceed the EU 20% CO2 reduction objective through increased energy efficiency and development of renewable energy sources.
After the adoption, in 2008, of the EU Climate and Energy Package, the European Commission launched the Covenant of Mayors Covenant of Mayors to endorse and support the efforts deployed by local authorities in the implementation of sustainable energy policies. Indeed, local governments play a crucial role in mitigating the effects of climate change, all the more so when considering that 80% of energy consumption and CO2 emissions is associated with urban activity.
For its unique characteristics – being the only movement of its kind mobilising local and regional actors around the fulfilment of the EU objectives – the covenant of Mayors has been portrayed by European institutions as an exceptional model of multi-level governance.
EU objectives
In March 2007 the EU’s leaders endorsed an integrated approach to climate and energy policy that aims to combat climate change and increase the EU’s energy security while strengthening its competitiveness. To kick-start this process, the EU Heads of State and Government set a series of demanding climate and energy targets to be met by 2020, known as the « 20-20-20″ targets. These are:
- A reduction in EU greenhouse gas emissions of at least 20% below 1990 levels
- 20% of EU energy consumption to come from renewable resources
- A 20% reduction in primary energy use compared with projected levels, to be achieved by improving energy efficiency.