Promoting the Covenant of Mayors

Author: Katrin JULLIEN, come2CoM Project Coordinator (2010-11), Germany / Meike LÖHR, come2CoM Project Coordinator (2011-2012), Beratungs- und Service-Gesellschaft Umwelt mbH, Germany - Email

The goal of come2CoM is to contribute to the successful implementation of the European initiative, the Covenant of Mayors. We will reach this goal by supporting cities and local authorities within the countries of the partner consortium to become a member of the “Covenant of Mayors” and to elaborate the requested Sustainable Energy Action Plans (SEAP). In a first step, the project partners consisting of 12 committed energy agencies, energy consulting agencies and energy institutes, from 11 EU countries aim to launch a promotional campaign to inform cities and local authorities on the Covenant of Mayors and to convince them to take the lead in mitigating climate change.

Convincing cities and local authorities to take the lead in mitigating climate change

Equipped with the translated thematic leaflet and a presentation on the CoM, posters, a fair stand, a short film and a sub-website on the partners’ website, we will present the CoM on national and regional events and organise personal consultations at city councils. By being involved in national and regional networks, speaking the same language as the city representatives and being on-site, we strongly believe that this bottom-up approach will enable us to inspire up to 300 cities to sign up.

In a second step, come2CoM will enable signatory cities to set-up the first steps of the SEAP. To achieve this, we will:

• compile, explain and communicate suitable methodologies for SEAP development and CO₂ inventory tools to selected CoM cities
• disseminate know how from recent best-practice examples, and
• provide guidance on choosing the most suitable tools in respect to the individual development stage of the CoM cities within the field of climate and energy policies.

Through individual consultations with exemplary cities, as well as through seminars, we will, in particular:

• help to define energy efficiency and CO₂ targets
• give advice on how to get support from relevant stakeholders and on how to involve them
• recommend priorities and key actions
• assist with time and financial planning

Besides the SEAP approved by the city council, at the end of the project we will provide a report describing the applied methodologies for SEAP development and CO₂ baseline assessment which shall facilitate the process of selecting methodologies in the future. In addition, we aim to encourage and enable cities in a long-term perspective to implement actions to reduce CO₂ and other greenhouse gases and to stimulate the exchange of know-how and experience on sustainable energy and energy-saving measures through the CoM network.