How the region of Murcia in Spain is helping municipalities prepare their climate action

In 2023, INFO - the regional coordinator of the Covenant of Mayors in Murcia - invited 11 municipalities in the region to renew their Covenant of Mayors 2030 pledges through the European project Nevermore. The novelty of this action is the collaboration of a large number of municipalities in a single exercise of commitment to follow the Covenant of Mayors guidelines, instead of doing it individually.

The municipalities have committed to update their environmental and climate commitments and Info has provided expert technical assistance to guide them through the process, which includes:

• the political commitment in the process of adhering to the Covenant of Mayors targets (55% CO2 reduction by 2030),
• the updated calculation of emissions in the municipality, 
• the analysis of climate scenarios and assessment of climate risks and vulnerabilities in the municipality,
• the development of the corresponding participatory processes at local level for the preparation and formal adoption of the SECAP, a sustainable energy and climate plan for the municipality that includes a 55% reduction in emissions by 2030,
• the analysis and projection of the municipality towards climate neutrality by 2050, 
• and the implementation of at least 2 concrete adaptation actions per municipality in the course of the Nevermore project until 2026.

The Nevermore project in Murcia

The Nevermore project has kicked off in May, gathering together all the interested municipalities. Some of these municipalities, like Aledo and Ojós, have already been engaged in their first actions over the summer.

The European Nevermore project, funded by the Horizon Europe programme, aims to support excellence in climate research. The Region of Murcia is a project partner and a Mediterranean region with a desert climate, serving as an example to identify specific climate risks and vulnerabilities, and  to develop corresponding participatory processes at local level. The municipalities that are participating as beneficiaries in this project are Albudeite, Aledo, Beniel, Blanca, Calasparra, Campos del Río, Cehegín, Fuente Álamo, Ojós, San Javier and San Pedro del Pinatar.

Murcia’s journey to climate sustainability

The director of INFO, Joaquín Gómez, recalled that it is important that the municipalities of the Murcia region look in the regional and European mirror to take good examples of progress in climate sustainability from each other. In this context, the Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy is the main European movement involving local and regional authorities that have made a voluntary commitment to reduce CO2 emissions by 55 percent by 2030, improve energy efficiency, use renewable energy sources in their territories and develop measures to adapt to the consequences of climate change, in the transition to climate neutrality by 2050. All 45 municipalities in the Region of Murcia are members of the Covenant of Mayors, 13 of which have already signed up to the 2030 targets.

Find out more:

Case Study: Murcia (Nevermore Project)
CoM website in the Murcia region
Access to CoM via Info Murcia website

This blog article is a contribution written by a guest author: Rafael Ataz, Head of EU Programmes & Sustainability at INFO Murcia (Spain), Responsible for CoM coordination in the Murcia region, and Manager of the NEVERMORE project in the Murcia region.