FAQs

The Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy - Europe brings together local authorities voluntarily committing to supporting the implementation of the EU climate and energy objectives. Since its launch in 2008, the initiative has mobilised over 10.000 local authorities in Europe, representing roughly one third of the EU population. The Covenant of Mayors – Europe is now part of the Global Covenant of Mayors.

Local authorities signing up to the Covenant of Mayors - Europe are supported by Covenant Coordinators (ministries, national energy agencies, regions, provinces and counties), Covenant Supporters (energy agencies, association of local authorities, NGOs, etc.), the Covenant of Mayors - Europe Office and the European Commission.

• Covenant of Mayors – Europe Office

The Covenant of Mayors – Europe Office offers many opportunities for networking, cooperation, and knowledge exchange, such as tailored trainings and peer-learning programmes; as well as capacity building activities on various themes (e.g. mitigation, adaptation, energy poverty, multi-level governance, funding and financing instruments) - all listed on the online calendar of events - and so much more. The office also offers tailored assistance through its Helpdesk.

• Joint Research Centre

Covenant signatories benefit from the highest level of technical support by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission, which provides an evaluation of their action plans and tailored recommendations for improvements. The JRC offers a Helpdesk dedicated to technical inquiries and elaborates technical guidance documents for Covenant signatories. The information collected by the JRC through signatories’ action plans is also useful to inform and support the definition of European policies on climate and energy.

• European Commission

The European Commission has committed to mobilizsing financial resources through programmes as well as political support at European level, and has created additional financial opportunities for the Covenant Community.

• Covenant Coordinators, Supporters and other partners

Covenant signatories are supported by various authorities and organisations that are in a position to provide strategic guidance, technical and/or financial assistance to accelerate the clean energy transition and adapting to climate change.

High international recognition and visibility

Covenant signatories enjoy high visibility at the international level with a dedicated profile on both the Covenant of Mayors - Europe website and the Global Covenant of Mayors website. Furthermore, Covenant signatories are offered the possibility to showcase their best practices both in the CoM-Europe good practices section and during CoM-Europe events.

Stronger credibility of your commitments, and easier self-assessment

Covenant signatories can benefit from a common monitoring and reporting framework. This framework allows signatories to collect and analyse data in a structured and systematic manner, and serves as a basis for good climate and energy management as well as for tracking progress in implementation. Signatories can keep track of their progress through a dedicated platform (MyCovenant), which is free of charge and accessible at any time.

The platform allows compiling emission inventories, risk and vulnerability assessments and respective actions that makes it easy to keep track and demonstrate the progress made to the public and e.g. potential financers. The platform serves also as a learning tool with a wide range of resources including technical e-learning modules (available in 5 languages) and a library with the latest available resources.

Tailored guidance

Signatories get support from the Covenant of Mayors – Europe Helpdesk as well as Covenant Coordinators and Supporters, that provide local and tailored technical assistance in their territories. Signatories also benefit from international networking opportunities and capacity-building events.

Find out more in the 10 Reasons to Join brochure.

Covenant - Europe signatories commit to develop, implement and report - within the established deadlines, an action plan to reach their targets. More specifically, signatories commit to submit the following:

• A strategy with a long-term vision including mitigation targets and climate adaptation goals (within 2 years after their official entry into the Covenant of Mayors - Europe).
• A Baseline Emission Inventory (BEI), quantifying the energy consumed and therefore the emissions emitted on the signatory's territory (within 2 years).
• A Climate Risk and Vulnerability Assessment (RVA), identifying and assessing the climate hazards and vulnerable sectors (within 2 years).
• Actions undertaken on mitigation, adaptation and energy poverty.
• Monitoring reports on the implementation of actions (every 2 years) and on emissions (every 4 years).

Five years on from the Paris Agreement, the Covenant of Mayors – Europe continues increasing its ambition to ensure that its three pillars (mitigation, adaptation and energy poverty) are turned into an overarching priority and ambitious action in municipalities. In early 2021, the Covenant of Mayors – Europe renewed its commitments to reflect the latest evolutions of the EU policies (mainly the EU Green Deal and the Fit for 55 package, the EU Climate Pact, the 2030 Climate Target Plan and the EU Adaptation Strategy) and positions itself within a new global context, thus strengthening its position as the movement of local authorities leading for change.

The revised commitment text calls Mayors and local leaders to jointly and inclusively a) renew their climate ambitions, and b) step up their actions in a mid- and longer-term perspective in a joint effort to keep global temperature rise below 1.5℃, considering climate change as a global emergency of our times.

The raised ambition and renewed commitments are the results of a broad consultation process, which started during the summer of 2020 with the launch of an online survey (see the main outcomes here) and continued through various consultation sessions, involving relevant national and regional partners. The resulting Covenant Commitment Document was formally endorsed by the Political board and the EU Commissioner for Energy Ms. Kadri Simson in February 2021, and was officially launched on April, 21st.

The vision

The Covenant of Mayors – Europe is a movement of Mayors and local leaders stepping up their climate ambitions and committing to delivering action at the pace that science sets, in a joint effort to keep global temperature rise below 1.5℃ - the highest ambition of the Paris Agreement.

The Covenant – Europe envisions that by 2050 all European citizens will be living in climate-neutral, decarbonized and resilient cities with access to affordable, secure and clean energy. It calls for a transition that is fair, inclusive and respectful of us citizens of the world, and of our planet’s resources.

To reach such an ambitious goal, the Covenant of Mayors – Europe invites all its signatories to step up their ambitions and to reduce their GHG emissions by at least the 55% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels, in line with the intermediate target set by the European Climate Law. The Fit for 55 legislative package upgrades relevant energy, transport and climate legislation to credibly meet this new target.

See also “EU Targets” below.

The commitments

To turn this vision into reality, the Commitment Document prompts Mayors and local leaders to:

1. Commit to set mid- and long-term targets (consistent with the EU objectives, and at least as ambitious as national targets), with the goal of achieving climate neutrality by 2050;
2. Engage with citizens, business and government at all levels to implement this vision;
3. Act now to get on track and accelerate the necessary transition;
4. Network with fellow Mayors and local leaders to get inspiration from each other.

To implement the goals of the Paris Agreement and reach climate neutrality, action at all levels is necessary. Your actions can make a difference, and by stepping up your actions, you are part of the change. In addition, you would:

• Take part in the world's largest movement of cities leading for change
• Set a more ambitious path, and act at the pace that science supports
• Help shape and further strengthen the EU & national policy frameworks that will accelerate the transition
• Get a stronger voice on the international scene
• Join forces with peers, inspire and learn from them;

Download the 10 reasons to join brochure.

EU Member States, regions and cities are at different stages in their transition, and each have their own resources to respond to the ambitions set out in the Paris Agreement. This is why the Covenant – Europe is open to a differentiated approach. It is up to the Covenant - Europe signatories to define their intermediate milestones on the road to climate neutrality by 2050. However, signatory cities shall set mid- and long-term targets, “consistent with the EU objectives, and at least as ambitious as our national targets”, as stated in the last version of the Covenant Commitment Document.

EU targets

The European Union has renewed its ambition through the adoption of the EU Green Deal. Within this framework and, more specifically, within the European Climate Law, a target is set of at least 55% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 compared to 1990 levels, and a long-term vision to reaching climate neutrality in Europe by 2050. These objectives - as enshrined in the 2030 Climate Target Plan and the European Climate Law - are to be achieved through a transformational change happening in all sectors of our society. The subsequent Fit for 55 package proposed upgrades to relevant energy, transport and climate legislation in order to credibly meet the 2030 intermediate objective. They included also targets of at least 36% for energy efficiency and 40% for renewable energy.

National targets

National targets are yet to be published. They will be so through the revised Effort Sharing Regulation of the Fit for 55 package. 

Covenant – Europe’s Targets

The Covenant – Europe calls for the highest possible ambition in setting the mid- and long-term targets. Covenant signatories are strongly encouraged to reduce their GHG emissions by at least 55% by 2030 to be consistent with the EU objective.

In line with Covenant principles of inclusiveness and of a focus on action, signatories can adjust their mid-term targets as local circumstances require, following a municipal council decision. However, once the national targets are released in 2022, they will be seen as the minimum possible commitment.

In the long-term, signatories commit to climate neutrality by 2050, with a minimum GHG reduction target of 80%. The latter will be aligned with the EU-wide target once it is available.

Aside from the new minimum mid-/long-term GHG emission reduction targets, the overall methodological framework and the minimum reporting requirements of the Covenant-Europe have not changed.

The reporting platform has been slightly adjusted in the end of 2021 / beginning of 2022 in order to best cover the new aspects introduced by the latest Covenant Commitment Document related to “climate neutrality”, “just transition”, stakeholder engagement” & “local climate plans”, and possibly also enlarge the scope of action.

In December 2019, the European Commission published the European Green Deal, which is the 2030 sustainable growth strategy for Europe and sets a vision for 2050. This strategy foresees a transformational change of European society aimed at abating GHG emissions by at least 55% in 2030 and making Europe the first climate neutral continent in 2050.

In order for such transformation to take place on the ground, all European sectors are called to contribute to climate mitigation and adaptation efforts as well as to tackle energy poverty - from buildings to transport, from agriculture to forestry, and from renewable energy to circular economy.

Instrumental in this process are:

1. The EU Climate Law, which sets in EU legislation the objective to reach climate neutrality in Europe by 2050 and the intermediate 55% emission target for 2030; 
2. The Fit for 55 package, which foresees a set of revisions of EU climate, energy and transport-related legislation in order to align current laws with the 2030 and 2050 ambitions, including the recast of the Energy Efficiency Directive and the Renewable Energy Directive;
3. The European Climate Pact, which is a societal agreement where each individual, organisation and Community can participate in climate action across Europe;
4. The Just Transition Mechanism, which is both a supporting tool and a financial mechanism to ensure that the transition to climate neutrality is fair and leaves no one behind;
5. The Recovery and Resilience Facility, which aims to mitigate the economic and social impact of the coronavirus pandemic and make European economies and societies more sustainable, resilient and better prepared for the challenges and opportunities of the green and digital transformations;
6. The RePowerEU plan, which aims to make the European Union independent from Russian fossil fuel and gas before 2030.

More information is available here.

On the 18th of May 2022, the European Commission launched the RePowerEU Plan as response to the global energy market disruption caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Cities play a crucial role in the achievement of the RePowerEU’s objectives. There is an urgent need to take emergency energy saving measures today and to plan for energy consumption reductions in the short and mid-term.

To demonstrate the Covenant – Europe’s support and commitment to the implementation of the plan, the CoM-Europe Political Board addressed EC First Executive Vice-President, Frans Timmermans, a proposal to “get Europe on a firm ground towards peace and climate neutrality”, including 14 recommendations to further support the much needed links between people, cities and communities [read the full letter here].

The Covenant of Mayors - Europe Office and the European Commission are strongly committed to supporting signatory cities and the other Covenant members. Together with the European Committee of Regions, they have launched on 19 May 2022 the Cities Energy Saving Sprint, a campaign aiming at encouraging cities to take measures that could immediately reduce their energy consumption and related costs while showing solidarity to Ukraine.

Any European local authority can become a signatory to the Covenant of Mayors - Europe, whatever its size and whatever the stage of implementation of its energy and climate policies., as long as it is represented by an elected local council or an equivalent decision-making body with elected members.

Find out more here.

Local authorities sharing territorial boundaries can also join the Covenant of Mayors - Europe as a group of signatories for the preparation of a joint action plan.

You need to take only two steps to join the initiative:

1. Your municipal council (or equivalent decision-making body) adopts and signs the Covenant Commitment Document
2. You register your local authority in MyCovenant.

After verification of your registration and uploaded document, the Covenant of Mayors - Europe Office confirms your participation. You will receive the credentials for logging into MyCovenant after your application has been approved.

You are strongly encouraged to raise your ambition and renew your Covenant commitments – to match the latest version of the Covenant Commitment Document - at your earliest convenience, according to your municipal planning cycles.

To do so,

• Present the Covenant of Mayors - Europe Commitment document to the municipal council (or equivalent decision-making body) and get it signed by your Mayor (or other competent political representative).
• Once officially adopted, there is no need to register again. Simply go to your online signatory’s profile in MyCovenant, update your data, upload the signed Commitment document, save and click on the dedicated ‘renew’ button.

Note: If you would like to change the type of joining from individual to a group of signatories or vice versa, please contact our Helpdesk at info@eumayors.eu.

Find out more in the info-pack for signatories.

We designed the Joint Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan approach specifically for the case of small-sized municipalities within the same territorial area, i.e. ensuring territorial continuity and administrative cost savings.

There are two options to develop a joint action plan:

• Committing separately - ‘individual CO2 reduction commitment’ (Option 1): each signatory in the group individually commits to a set joint target, e.g. carbon neutrality by 2050. Each signatory is required to report the action plan in the individual profile of MyCovenant platform. Each member of the group has to upload the action plan onto their individual profile and each municipal council has to approve the document.
• Committing collectively - ‘shared CO2 reduction commitment’ (Option 2): the group of signatories collectively commits to a set joint target, e.g. carbon neutrality by 2050. The group is required to provide only one action plan for the whole group in MyCovenant platform. The action plan document to upload is a common one and includes all the members of the group, thus, each municipal council has to approve it.

In both cases, the ‘group of signatories’ is strongly encouraged to appoint a contact person responsible for coordinating the work throughout the action plan development and implementation process. It could be a staff member from one of the municipalities of the group or the province / region acting as an official Covenant Coordinator (see the list of Covenant Coordinators here).

• For groups committing separately, each local authority adopts and signs the Covenant Commitment Document for groups “committing separately”.
• For groups committing collectively, each local authority adopts and signs the Covenant Commitment Document for groups “committing collectively”.
• The leading signatory (the one with the oldest date in the commitment document) registers through MyCovenant, it will be requested to create the group by choosing its name and its type (committing collectively or committing separately) and adding the details of the main contact person for such group.

Once that the Covenant of Mayors - Europe Office approves the registration, the other signatories can register as well, selecting the group from a drop-down menu.

Find out more in our infographic on joint adhesion.

If your group of signatories wishes to renew their Covenant commitments without changing the members of the groups nor the type of commitment (i.e. Committing separately or Committing collectively), please follow the steps detailed in the FAQs.

Once every signatory in the group has renewed its commitments, the Covenant of Mayors – Europe Office will update the commitments of the group’s profile as well.

If your group of signatories wish to renew their Covenant commitments and some of the members of the groups have changed, please contact our Helpdesk at info@eumayors.eu.

Funded by the European Commission, the Covenant of Mayors – Europe Office (CoM - Europe) is responsible for the overall coordination and implementation of the initiative. The CoM – Europe Helpdesk assists the Covenant - Europe Community in all aspects related to their participation in the initiative - from the registration process to the development and reporting of the action plan. The CoM - Europe is managed by a consortium of European networks and associations who represent local and regional entities, composed of Energy Cities, CEMR, Climate Alliance, Eurocities, FEDARENE and ICLEI Europe and of the ICT company Akaryon. The CoM-Europe closely works with the European Commission’s Directorates General for Climate Action and Energy and the Joint Research Centre for the implementation of the initiative.

The Covenant of Mayors - Europe Office is the primary interface for the Covenant of Mayors – Europe Community. Its role is to:

• Assist local authorities in joining the initiative through the adhesion and registration process.
• Build capacities of signatories through guidance documents, webinars and workshops.
• Answer administrative and technical inquiries.
• Support communication and promotional activities.
• Connect Covenant Coordinators and Covenant Supporters with signatories.
• Liaise with the Joint Research Centre for the evaluation of the action plans.
• Facilitate networking activities within the Covenant of Mayors - Europe Community.

Our Helpdesk supports signatories in all the steps of the Covenant of Mayors - Europe process, from registration and renewal of commitments to inputting data in MyCovenant for action plans and monitoring. You can reach the Helpdesk via email (info@eumayors.eu) and telephone (+32 2 646 84 24).

Please note that the Helpdesk does not provide pre-evaluation of your action plan. The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre conducts analysis of submitted action plans.

A national Helpdesk for Italian-speaking signatories can be reached via email (info@eumayors.eu) and telephone (+39 075 852 04 29).

The Coordinators’ Helpdesk is reserved for Covenant Coordinators and is reachable via email (coordinators@eumayors.eu).

The Supporters’ Helpdesk is reserved for Covenant Supporters and is reachable via email (supporters@eumayors.eu).

For more specific questions around the methodological requirements or questions related to the JRC’s feedback reports, the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre has established two technical Helpdesks:

• on mitigation-related queries reachable via email (jrc-com-technical-helpdesk@ec.europa.eu)
• on adaptation-related queries reachable via email (jrc-com-adapt@ec.europa.eu).

The CoM – Europe Data Policy sets the rules that the Covenant of Mayors – Europe Office applies for collecting, processing, sharing and publishing data of local and regional authorities and organizations, member of the CoM-Europe Community. Further information on how CoM – Europe protects and collects personal data is available here.

Covenant Coordinators are public authorities that are in a position to provide strategic guidance, technical and financial support to Covenant of Mayors - Europe signatories who wish to be part of the initiative.

• Covenant Territorial Coordinators are decentralised authorities, such as regions, provinces or grouping of local authorities.
• Covenant National Coordinators are national public bodies such as ministries or national energy agencies.

The list of Covenant Coordinators is available here.

Find out more here.

The European Commission recognises Covenant Coordinators as important allies to support Covenant of Mayors - Europe signatories in meeting their commitments and increasing the impact of the initiative.

Typical tasks of the Covenant Coordinators include:

• Promoting accession to the Covenant of Mayors - Europe.
• Providing technical and strategic assistance to signatory municipalities for the development, implementation and monitoring of their action plans.
• Providing financial support to signatories, possibly in the form of direct support (grants, subsidies, etc.), and technical support via allocating for instance human resources or dedicated offices or conducting a CO₂ emission inventory and/or a climate risk assessment, as well as in preparing and implementing the action plan.
• Supporting experience and knowledge-sharing between (existing and potential) signatories.
• Working in partnership with other Covenant National/Territorial Coordinators and Supporters to foster joint approaches.
• Participating in the Covenant of Mayors - Europe activities and organize relevant events to promote the initiative.
• Regularly reporting to the Covenant of Mayors - Europe Office, and minimum once a year, the activities carried out to support signatories and participate in the strategic implementation of the Covenant.

In case of non-compliance with the above-mentioned commitments, the Covenant of Mayors - Europe Office reserves the right to temporary suspend the Covenant Coordinators’ participation in the initiative.

The advantages of becoming a Covenant Coordinator are manifold:

• Endorsement and recognition from the European Commission.
• Large visibility on an international scale, notably through promotion of their actions on the Covenant - Europe website.
• Networking, experience- and knowledge-sharing with European counterparts.
• Scientific and technical feedback on tools and methodologies developed.
• Participation in dedicated discussion groups, workshops and other experience-sharing platforms.
• Consolidation of territorial development and strengthening of local and multilevel governance.

As a Covenant Coordinator, you have access to the password-protected area in MyCovenant to share information and key data and exchange experiences.

Through MyCovenant, a Coordinator can:

• Keep its profile but also the signatories’ associated profiles always up-to-date.
• Keep track on signatories’ progress (e.g. action plan, monitoring).
• Request an 18-months extension of deadline for signatories’ action plans.
• Request an 18-month extension of the deadline for signatories to submit their monitoring reports.
• Publicise its Good Practices (i.e. its key implemented actions) towards the Covenant - Europe Community and beyond.
• Upload and share useful resources in the Capacity-sharing Corner.
• Promote own events in the Covenant – Europe website.
• Network with the Covenant - Europe Community and get inspired by their actions.

If your administration is interested in becoming an official Covenant Coordinator, please follow these steps:

• Fill in the registration form.
• After confirmation of eligibility, the Coordinators Helpdesk will send you the commitment statement.
• Fill it in, get it signed by your President or other high relevant political representative, and send it back to coordinators@eumayors.eu.
• Upon reception of the duly filled in and signed commitment statement, the Covenant of Mayors - Europe Office will create an online profile for your administration that will allow you to actively participate in the Covenant of Mayors - Europe Community and help you better support your associated signatories.

For any question, please contact the Coordinators Helpdesk at coordinators@eumayors.eu.

Signatories can associate a Coordinator to their own profile during the registration process. Signatories can also add Coordinators directly through the platform, in the MyCovenant Community section.

Find out more in the info-pack for signatories.

For further assistance please contact our Helpdesk at info@eumayors.eu if you are a signatory, or at coordinators@eumayors.eu if you are a coordinator.

Covenant Supporters are thematic local and regional agencies, associations of local and regional authorities, networks and not-for-profit organisations with the capacity to promote the Covenant of Mayors – Europe and to mobilise and support signatories in reaching the Covenant of Mayors – Europe objectives. They leverage on their advocacy, communication and networking activities to promote the Covenant of Mayors - Europe initiative and support the commitments of their signatories.

The list of Covenant Supporters can be found here.

Find out more here.

Being knowledgeable about the regulatory, legislative and financial framework under which they operate, Covenant Supporters are ideally placed to provide tailored advice to signatories and identify synergies with other initiatives. They can also provide technical expertise to Covenant - Europe signatories.

Tasks to be performed by a Covenant Supporter include:

• Promote the Covenant of Mayors - Europe initiative, mobilising existing and potential signatories
• Support and advise Covenant of Mayors - Europe signatories
• Support exchanges and share knowledge, experiences, best practices, tools or resources relevant to Covenant of Mayors - Europe signatories
• Work in partnership with other Covenant of Mayors - Europe Supporters and Coordinators to foster joint action and promote a coordinated approach
• Participate in Covenant of Mayors - Europe activities
• Report regularly, and not less than every two years, to the Covenant of Mayors - Europe Office on the activities carried out in the framework of the initiative.

In case of non-compliance with the above-mentioned commitments, the Covenant of Mayors - Europe Office reserves the right to temporary suspend the Covenant Supporters’ participation in the initiative.

The advantages of becoming Covenant Supporter are manifold:

• Endorsement and recognition from the European Commission.
• Large visibility on an international scale, notably through promotion of their actions on the Covenant website.
• Networking and experience- and knowledge-sharing with European counterparts.
• Participation in dedicated discussion groups, workshops and other experience-sharing platforms.
• Last but not least, consolidation of territorial development and strengthening of local governance.

As a Covenant Supporter your organisation has access to the password-protected platform in MyCovenant, to share information and key data with the whole Covenant – Europe Community, and increase the visibility of your organisation.

Through MyCovenant, a Supporter can:

• Keep its profile always up-to-date.
• Publicise its Good Practices (i.e. key implemented actions) towards the Covenant - Europe Community and beyond.
• Upload and share useful resources in the Capacity-sharing Corner.
• Promote own events on the CoM - Europe website.
• Network with the Covenant – Europe Community (through forums, webinars, events) and get inspired by their actions.

If your organisation is interested in becoming an official Covenant Supporter, please follow these steps:

• Fill in the registration here.
• After confirmation of eligibility, you will receive a commitment statement.
• Fill it in, get it signed by your President or other relevant legal representative and send it back to the Supporters Helpdesk (supporters@eumayors.eu).
• Upon reception of the duly filled-in and signed commitment statement, the Covenant of Mayors - Europe Office will create an online profile for your organisation that will allow you to actively participate in the Covenant of Mayors - Europe Community and help you better support your associated signatories.

For any question, please contact the Supporters Helpdesk at supporters@eumayors.eu.

Signatories can associate a Supporter to their own profile during the registration process. Signatories can also add Supporters directly through the platform, in the MyCovenant Community.

For further assistance please contact our Helpdesk at info@eumayors.eu if you are a signatory, or at supporters@eumayors.eu if you are a supporter.

Find out more in the info-pack for signatories.

MyCovenant is the private virtual space of the Covenant of Mayors - Europe Community. Once signed in, Signatories, Coordinators and Supporters are able to: update their contact information as well as access both the “reporting corner” and the “capacity-sharing corner”.

Its Reporting Corner is the main tool for European Covenant signatories to report and monitor the data of their action plan. Reported data allows signatories to demonstrate the concrete impact of their actions and their climate ambitions. The Covenant - Europe framework allows signatories to collect and analyse data in a structured and systematic manner, and serves as a basis for good climate and energy management and for tracking progress in implementation. For more information on how to use MyCovenant for reporting purposes, please consult the reporting guidelines. 

MyCovenant also includes a Capacity Sharing Corner that allows signatories to gain and share knowledge and exchange experience on climate adaptation and mitigation with the whole Covenant - Europe Community.

Finally, MyCovenant also includes the organization’s profile, allowing Signatories, Coordinators and Supporters to modify their information publicly shared on the CoM – Europe website.

Please reset your password using the following link: https://mycovenant.eumayors.eu/user/sign-in/password-reset

Do not send your personal password to the Helpdesk and do not reply to the message received by the platform with the credentials. Credentials messages should not be shared with the Helpdesk.

In case of any doubts or question, please contact the Helpdesk at: 

• info@eumayors.eu if you are a Signatory; 
• coordinators@eumayors.eu if you are a Coordinator; 
• supporters@eumayors.eu if you are a Supporter.

Most probably because your local authority is already registered in MyCovenant. Please contact the Helpdesk (info@eumayors.eu) to retrieve your credentials, indicating the name of your local authority and your country.

To manage your subscription, please enter MyCovenant, go to your Contact Profile and deselect the subscription to the newsletter(s).

Find out more in the info-pack for signatories.

The minimum reporting requirements refer to the mandatory data from the action plan and monitoring reports that signatories need to provide through MyCovenant platform.

Please consult the Covenant reporting guidelines to get more details or watch our video tutorials.

If a signatory lacks technical and financial resources to prepare its action plan, we recommend them to reach out to the Covenant Coordinators or Supporters in their region/country.

For technical guidance on the action plan, please consult the guidebook for Covenant signatories developed by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre:

Part 1 - The SECAP process, step-by-step towards low carbon and climate resilient cities by 2030

Part 2 - Baseline Emission Inventory (BEI) and Risk and Vulnerability Assessment (RVA)

Part 3 - Policies, key actions, good practices for mitigation and adaptation to climate change and Financing SECAP(s)

The Covenant of Mayors – Europe Office has also developed a number of supporting tools, such as video tutorials, guidelines for reporting, info-packs, etc.

A dedicated section of both the Covenant of Mayors – Europe website and the MyCovenant platform is dedicated to these supporting tools.

Numerous sources of financing are available at local, regional, and European levels, including local authorities' own resources, local partners' resources, public-private partnerships, municipal, regional and national subsidies. To find out more about European funding opportunities, please visit the Funding opportunities page of our website.

In particular, the European Commission has committed to mobilize financial resources through dedicated programmes as well as political support at European level.

Yes, if the existing strategies, policies and plans fulfil the minimal requirements set in the context of the Covenant of Mayors - Europe. They need to include the signatory’s commitments and be in line with the Covenant of Mayors – Europe targets and requirements: i.e. support the EU in reaching carbon neutrality by 2050 and be at least as high as own national targets. Plans should include goals and actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the given territory, increase resilience and prepare for the adverse impacts of climate change and tackle energy poverty to ensure a just transition towards climate neutrality. A compilation of several documents is also accepted. The signatory would still need to report a set of minimal data in MyCovenant.

For further information on what data are required, please consult the Covenant reporting guidelines.

Please consult the Guidebook 'How to develop a Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan (SECAP)'.

Part 1 - The SECAP process, step-by-step towards low carbon and climate resilient cities by 2030

Part 2 - Baseline Emission Inventory (BEI) and Risk and Vulnerability Assessment (RVA)

Part 3 - Policies, key actions, good practices for mitigation and adaptation to climate change and Financing SECAP(s)

You should submit your action plan online via the reporting platform MyCovenant. In addition to the actual action plan document, we ask you to report a minimal set of information in MyCovenant in English.

For the submission to be valid, all mandatory fields in MyCovenant must be filled in (indicated in green in the platform) and at least one action plan document (e.g. mitigation action plan/adaptation action plan/integrated mitigation and adaptation action plan) should be uploaded. This plan needs to be approved by the municipal council or an equivalent decision-making body. The uploading of additional documents is optional. All documents should be uploaded in a PDF format, in the national language, unless an English translation is available. Moreover, you can decide to make these documents public.

If you encounter problems during the submission of your action plan, please contact our Helpdesk at info@eumayors.eu.

For further information on the reporting and submission processes, please consult the Covenant reporting guidelines.

In the Reporting Corner, the Reporting template menu indicates the status of completion of each reporting section using the following indicators: complete, incomplete and not applicable. If the system detects incomplete sections, it displays error notifications at the bottom of each section. Please carefully revise the reported information according to the Covenant reporting guidelines, complete the online template, save all information and click on “submit”.

If the problem persists, please contact our Helpdesk at info@eumayors.eu.

No submission of the action plan is possible only via MyCovenant. A MS Excel file is available offline and can be used as a working document only, if you decide so. In this case, you should transfer the data and information contained in this file to the online Reporting Corner sections in order to submit your action plan.

The commitment of signatories to the Covenant of Mayors - Europe is reflected in the submission of an action plan two years after the political decision to join the initiative.

In the event of failure to submit an action plan, the signatory's profile will be greyed out and the signatory's participation in the initiative will be suspended until the action plan is submitted.

You can request an extension of your deadline of up to 9 months.

To request an extension of the deadline, fill in the online delay request in MyCovenant – My Overview section. A pop-up message will confirm the submission of the request.

The request is usually granted immediately, you will simply need to refresh your page.

Find out more in the info-pack for signatories.

An extension of 18 months can be granted to signatories supported by an official Covenant Territorial Coordinator (CTC). In this case, it’s the Covenant Coordinator who shall request an extension for the signatory via its profile in MyCovenant – MyCovenant Community section.

If the online delay request function is not available, the signatory or the coordinator has already requested an extension and it is not possible to ask for additional one.

For further information or assistance, please contact the Helpdesk at info@eumayors.eu.

If your local authority has been suspended due to failing to submit the action plan / monitoring emission inventory (MEI) within the deadline, it is necessary to submit related templates to end the suspension.

If a Covenant Coordinator is coordinating the action plans of its associated signatories, the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) can carry out a grouped analysis to provide faster feedback. If your province/region has developed a common approach to assist signatories with their action plans, we kindly invite you to contact the CoM – Europe Helpdesk at coordinators@eumayors.eu.

Please consult our Quick Reference guide on grouped SECAP analysis.

Covenant of Mayors – Europe signatories that have already submitted a SECAP with 40% targets and have renewed their commitments to higher targets are invited to adjust or resubmit the action plan within 2 years from the renewal of commitment.

It is up to the signatory to decide whether an update of the existing plan is sufficient or whether a new action plan should be developed for reaching their (re)new(ed) target(s). The Covenant - Europe framework will remain flexible enough to be adjustable to the local context and municipal procedures.

The Baseline Emission Inventory (BEI) focuses on the activity sectors under the direct influence of the local authority to quantify the amount of GHG emitted due to energy consumption. The BEI is not meant to be exhaustive. It mainly focuses on the emissions from final energy consumption in the Covenant – Europe key sectors of activity. The BEI shows the emissions in the baseline year (the reference year for setting your target and plan development) in order to identify the actions necessary to reach the emission reduction target. The Baseline Emission Inventory serves, along with the Risk and Vulnerability Assessment, as the starting point for the development of the action plan.

For detailed information on how to develop a Baseline Emission Inventory, consult Part 2 of the SECAP guidebook ‘Part II - Baseline Emission Inventory’.

For guidance on how to fill in the Baseline Emission Inventory section in MyCovenant, please refer to our Reporting guidelines.

The baseline year is the year against which the emissions reduction target is compared. We invite signatories who would like to compare their emission reduction with the EU target to take 1990 as a baseline year. However, due to the difficulties to obtain sufficiently reliable data, signatories are able to choose the closest subsequent year for which comprehensive and reliable data exist. If possible, this baseline year should not be later than 2005, which is the year signatories most commonly use.

You will find the baseline years adopted by Covenant signatories here.

Yes, signatories joining in a group “Committing separately” can have different baseline emission inventories, i.e. different baseline years.

 The Covenant key mitigation sectors are:

1. Municipal buildings, equipment/facilities;
2. Tertiary (non-municipal) buildings, equipment/facilities
3. Residential buildings
4. Transport.

A signatory should report data for at least three out of these four key sectors in the Baseline Emission Inventory. Data for additional sectors can be reported optionally.

To prepare their Baseline Emission Inventory, signatories can get support and find relevant data from Regional Emission Observatories or from their national authorities. They can also collect data using a bottom-up approach including data from energy bills, reaching out to energy providers, and by conducting surveys aimed to inhabitants and businesses, and calculating the amount of fuel sold for the transport sector. Signatories can also reach out to Covenant Coordinators and Local and Regional Energy Agencies that collect useful data for the local emissions inventories.

More details on how to collect data can be found in 'Part 2 - Baseline Emission Inventory (BEI) and Risk and Vulnerability Assessment (RVA)'.

A Risk and Vulnerability Assessment (RVA) determines the nature and extent of risk by analysing potential hazards and assessing vulnerability that could pose a potential threat or harm to people, property, livelihoods and the environment on which they depend.

The Risk and Vulnerability Assessment serves, along with the Baseline Emission Inventory, as a starting point for the development of the action plan. It is an integral part of your action plan in MyCovenant. It needs to be submitted in the same stage as the action plan (i.e. within 2 years of joining the initiative), while updated information shall be reported at the monitoring stage (i.e. using the monitoring template in MyCovenant).

The RVA in the Covenant - Europe framework focuses on identifying and assessing the most relevant climate hazards and vulnerable sectors. Optionally, adaptive capacity and vulnerable population groups could also be identified and assessed in this analysis.

For guidance on how to complete the Risk and Vulnerability Assessment in MyCovenant, please refer to the Covenant Reporting guidelines.

You should select at least one sector per each climate hazards identified. The pre-defined sectors within MyCovenant are buildings, transport, energy, water, waste, land use, agriculture, biodiversity, health, civil protection, tourism, education, ICT.

Please see Annex V of the Covenant Reporting guidelines for a detailed definition of each sector.

The Urban Adaptation Support Tool developed by the European Environment Agency and the Covenant of Mayors - Europe Office provides local authorities guidance on the entire adaptation cycle, including assessing risks and vulnerabilities. It includes references to useful resources, such as reports, tools, case studies. You can find the Urban Adaptation Support Tool here.

The Energy Poverty Assessment assists in defining the state of energy poverty in your local authority. It is an integral part of your action plan in MyCovenant, along with the Emission Inventory and the Risk and Vulnerability Assessment. The Energy Poverty Assessment offers to choose from a variety of indicators in several macro areas: climate, facilities/housing, mobility, socio-economic aspects, policy and regulatory framework, participation/awareness-raising. Each indicator can be further defined by selecting a base year and current level, either at a household or person level. Signatories are free to select as many indicators as they like and use them to monitor progress.

The Energy Poverty Assessment needs to be submitted in the same stage as the action plan (i.e. within 2 years of joining the initiative), while updated information shall be reported at the monitoring stage (i.e. using the monitoring template in MyCovenant).

As the Covenant energy poverty pillar has been launched in early 2022, a transition period will apply until the end of 2024. During the transition period reporting on energy poverty in MyCovenant remains optional, however, signatories are highly encouraged to start their assessment and planning on energy poverty.

For guidance on how to complete the Energy Poverty Assessment in MyCovenant, please refer to the Covenant Reporting guidelines.

The Energy Poverty Advisory Hub, as the leading EU initiative on energy poverty, provides extensive knowledge and capacity building on energy poverty and their Helpdesk can be of assistance for any questions on the topic.

The EU Open Data Portal is an open database managed by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, including a number of resources and data developed by the EU institutions.

Data available on the portal are free of charge and without any copyright restriction.

The data published in the portal are continuously updated thanks to the efforts of the EU institutions and bodies involved.

In particular, the portal hosts dedicated datasets on energy and environment that can help Covenant – Europe signatories in collecting data useful for the development of their SECAPs. A specific CoM collection is dedicated to the CoM initiative, including data on GHG emissions and mitigation policies at local level.

With “Committing separately – individual CO₂ reduction commitment”, each signatory of the group individually commits to achieve a set joint target. Each member of the group is requested to complete the action plan and report it through My Covenant. 

Joint action plans in “Committing separately” can contain both individual and shared measures. The impacts on energy savings, renewable energy production and CO₂ emissions reduction corresponding to the joint measures is divided among each municipality adopting shared actions in their individual action plan templates.

With “Committing collectively – shared CO₂ reduction commitment”, the group of signatories collectively commits to a set given target. It is therefore necessary to complete one action plan submission for the entire group in the latter’s profile. The action plan document to upload in MyCovenant is common to all signatories in the group. The document must clearly indicate the names of the local authorities and has to be approved by each municipal council.

In this case, the emission reduction target is shared between the members of the group. The action plan can contain both individual and shared actions, and at least one shared action should be included.

The names of each local authority as well as their contribution to the plan must be clearly indicated in the action plan document.

Please consult our Quick Reference Guide on Joint Action Plans for further information. 

Monitoring is a crucial part of any planning process. It aims to collect and report the progress achieved by the signatory according to its targets of mitigation and adaptation and to plan corrective actions if necessary.

Covenant - Europe signatories regularly monitor their action plan by submitting:

• every two years after the submission of their action plan, a monitoring report on the implementation status of their actions (light monitoring)
• and, at least every four years, a Monitoring Emissions Inventory (MEI). Elaborating reference emissions inventories is of critical importance as they are the instruments to measure the impacts of the action plan.

We encourage signatories to upload MEIs with smaller intervals, for example each year, if data is available.

Please note that in the first monitoring report (2 years after the submission of the action plan), it is necessary to indicate at least 3 key adaptation actions and 1 energy poverty action. You have the possibility to upload supporting documents. However, you should report the relevant information contained in these documents in a concise way in MyCovenant.

Please consult our Quick Reference Guide on Monitoring the Action Plan Implementation.

For further information, please consult the Covenant Reporting guidelines.

After logging into MyCovenant, go to the Reporting Corner. Enter one of the 3 main sections, ideally My Strategy (the first section) and select the Monitoring Report template row in the list of Reporting Templates (the blue background of the row indicates that the row has been correctly selected and it is now active). It is necessary to complete and, if applicable, adjust the content of the 3 main sections (fields in green are mandatory). Click on “submit” to officially submit your monitoring template. A preliminary checking system of the template will allow the detection of errors.

Please note that the monitoring report template has additional fields of information compared to the action plan template. Consult the Covenant Reporting guidelines to learn more.

You will not be able to submit a monitoring report without having submitted an action plan first.

The Covenant of Mayors – Europe Ceremony is the biggest political event bringing together the Covenant – Europe Community. Since the launch of the initiative in 2009, Covenant Ceremonies have brought together hundreds of cities of all sizes, mayors, local leaders, coordinators and supporters to celebrate the achievements of local governments and look at the future of the climate and energy transition. Traditionally the event has been hosted by the President of the European Parliament, and European Commissioners, MEPs, representatives of the Committee of the Regions and other institutions have come together for this high-level event.

For further information, please visit our events page or contact our events Helpdesk at events@eumayors.eu.

The Covenant – Europe Office provides different kind of peer learning opportunities to the European Community through:

• Online and offline capacity-building activities both at the European and national level. These workshops and webinars offer opportunities to learn from peers, get inspired by successful actions, and brainstorm solutions to common challenges;
• Online resources and publications with the latest relevant information to support cities, including on funding and financing opportunities;
• Facilitate knowledge transfer and achievement of the Covenant - Europe targets at local level via a series of peer learning exchanges with other cities and regions (Covenant – Europe peer learning programme).

The Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy is the world’s largest alliance for cities climate leadership, built over the great success of the Covenant of Mayors – Europe and the Compact of Mayors – the world’s two primary initiatives of cities and local governments for climate action in 2017. The Global Covenant of Mayors formally brings together these two initiatives to advance city-level transition to a low emission and climate-resilient economy, and to demonstrate the global impact of local action.

Signatories of the Covenant of Mayors – Europe are also signatories of the Global Covenant of Mayors.

The Global Covenant of Mayors is managed by a dedicated Secretariat supporting the networking of cities all over the world on climate and energy.

Further information on the Global Covenant of Mayors is available here.

The Global Covenant of Mayors recognizes two official platforms for reporting on climate and energy measures: the MyCovenant Platform and the CDP-ICLEI Track.

While both reporting systems are fully adapted for European signatory cities to report on their climate action commitments, there are several differences between these platforms. Cities that have been reporting through either system prior to 2020 are encouraged to continue using that system.

Learn more on the differences between MyCovenant and the CDP-ICLEI Track in this guide.

The Race to Zero Campaign addresses local authorities, businesses, universities and investors with the aim of accelerating science-based climate action to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2040, or 2050 at the latest. It is especially designed to help cities meet the Race’s criteria and access the best available expertise along the way

Read more on the Race to Zero Campaign and its linkage with the Covenant of Mayors – Europe here.