COVENANT OF MAYORS

WHEREAS, the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the international community’s most respected assemblage of scientists, has confirmed that climate change is a reality and that the use of energy for human activities is largely responsible for it,

WHEREAS, the EU adopted on 9 March 2007 the Energy for a Changing World package, committing unilaterally to reduce its CO2 emissions by 20% by 2020, as a result of a 20% increase in energy efficiency and a 20% share of RES in the energy mix,

WHEREAS, the EU Action Plan for Energy Efficiency: Realising the Potential includes as a priority the creation of a 'Covenant of Mayors',

WHEREAS we are willing to follow the recommendations of the Leipzig Charter on Sustainable European Cities, concerning the need to improve energy efficiency,

WHEREAS, we recognise that local authorities assume the responsibility of fighting global warming and must be committed to that independently of the commitments of other parties,

WHEREAS, towns and cities account directly and indirectly (through the products and services used by citizens) for more than half the GHG emissions derived of the use of energy related to human activity,

WHEREAS, the EU commitment to reduce emissions will be achievable only if the citizens and their groupings share it,

WHEREAS, towns and cities, being the closest administration to the citizen, need to lead action and to show example,

WHEREAS, cities play and can play are a very active part in implementation of European energy legislation,

WHEREAS, many of the necessary actions, on energy efficiency and renewable energy sources, to tackle climate disruption fall within the scope of competence of local governments, or would not be attainable without the political support of  local governments,

WHEREAS there is a need for decentralized approaches to fit the needs of local communities and EU Member States can benefit from effective decentralised action at local level in order to meet their commitment in GHG emission reduction,

WHEREAS, local governments throughout Europe, both large and small, are reducing global warming pollutants through energy efficiency programs, including urban transport, and the promotion of renewable energy sources in urban areas,

WHEREAS the towns and cities members of the Covenant of Mayors dispose of a baseline emissions estimation or inventory and a forecast of emissions on a business as usual scenario.

WE, THE MAYORS, COMMIT TO:

Go beyond the objectives set up by the EU for 2020, reducing the CO2 emissions in their respective territories by more than 20%, through the implementation of a Sustainable Energy Action Plan. The commitment and the Action Plan will be ratified through our respective procedures;

Adapt the city structures, including allocation of sufficient human resources, in order to undertake the following actions;

Mobilise the civil society in our territories to participate in the development of the Action Plan,outlining the policies and measures needed to implement and achieve the objectives of the Plan. The Action Plan will be produced in each territory and shall be submitted to the Secretariat within the year following ratification of the Covenant;

Produce an evaluation report on a yearly basis for monitoring and verification purposes;

Share our experience and know-how with other territories;

Organise Energy Days or City Covenant Days in the Covenant territories, in co-operation with the EC and with other stakeholders, allowing the citizens to benefit directly from the opportunities andvantages offered through a more intelligent use of energy, and to regularly inform the local mediaon developments of the action plan;

Attend the annual EU Conference of Mayors for a Sustainable Energy Europe;

Spread the message of the Covenant in the appropriate fora and, in particular, to invite otherMayors to join the Covenant;

Accept the termination of our membership of the Covenant, subject to a letter of prior noticeissued by the Secretariat, in either case of:

1) failing to submit the Sustainable Energy Action Plan within the set time frame

2) non-compliance with the overall CO2 reduction objective as set in the Action Plan

3) failing to submit a report in two subsequent years

4) lack of progress due to no or insufficient action over a two year period

WE, THE MAYORS, ENDORSE

The European Commission's decision to implement and fund a structure of technical and promotional support, including the implementation of evaluation and monitoring tools, mechanisms to facilitate sharing of know-how between territories and tools to facilitate replication and multiplication of successful measures, within their budget;

The European Commission's proposal to assume the co-ordination the EU Conference of Mayors for a Sustainable Energy Europe;

The European Commission's intention to facilitate the exchange of experience among the participating territories, and the provision of guidelines and benchmark examples for their eventual adaptation. To take action to facilitate the smooth adaptation of those examples under the responsibility of the European Commission, such as CONCERTO, CIVITAS or ManagEnergy, to the specific needs of interested cities. Those benchmark examples should become integral part of this Covenant, as annexes to it;

The European Commission's support providing for the formal recognition and public visibility of the cities and towns participating in the Covenant through the use of a dedicated Sustainable Energy Europe logo and the promotion through the Commission's communication tools;

Contributions of the entities operating Benchmarks of Excellence (see Annex) to support the implementation of new programmes and projects in our cities.

WE, THE MAYORS, REQUEST

The European Commission and the national administrations to set up co-operation schemes supporting the Covenant Cities in the implementation of our Sustainable Energy Action Plans.

The European Commission and the national administrations to consider the activities in theCovenant as priorities in their respective support programmes and to inform and involve the cities inthe preparation of policies and funding schemes concerning the local level in the scope of its objectives. To that extent we offer our support for the operation of a technical support body providingconceptual advice when devising new initiatives, consisting of representatives of Covenant Cities.

The European Commission to negotiate with the financial actors to create financial facilities aimed at facilitating the accomplishment of the tasks within the Action Plans.

The European Commission to adopt strict source based measures for products and transport.

WE, THE MAYORS, ENCOURAGE OTHER TERRITORIES TO JOIN THE INITIATIVE OF THE COVENANT OF MAYORS, AND OTHER MAJOR STAKEHOLDERS TO FORMALISE THEIR CONTRIBUTION TO THE COVENANT