As the world grapples with the urgent need for climate action, the importance of transparent and accountable reporting cannot be overstated. Effective reporting not only enhances transparency and helps visualize political commitment, but also transforms data into valuable information and knowledge that informs local climate action and drives acceleration. Without comprehensive monitoring, it becomes challenging to evaluate the effectiveness of implemented measures, identify areas for improvement, and foster collective learning among cities and municipalities.
This is exactly why reporting and monitoring have become an essential part of the Covenant of Mayors process, serving as a backbone for effective climate action at local level. The initiative has thus relied for more than a decade on a comprehensive reporting platform for all its signatories, coordinators, and supporters: the MyCovenant platform.
However, it’s clear that for many local authorities – often short of staff and resources –, reporting platforms can be overly burdensome. Local governments are at times unable to attend the platform, be it for the burden of double-reporting, data incompatibility, the amount of data requested, or lack of integrations making it easy to transfer data from one platform to another.
In our mission to ensure reliable and transparent reporting at local level, we are constantly collecting feedback from the city practitioners who use MyCovenant, in order to improve the platform. As we are currently working hard to simplify the reporting framework and to streamline it with other reporting platforms, we are also making small adjustments that make it easier to use MyCovenant on a daily basis.
Improved interface
The first change that you will note if you are using MyCovenant is an improved interface, which should significantly ease the reporting process for signatories. Signatories can now see the accomplishments they are reaching through “badges”, easily find where to submit their reports, as well as make their actions public to further engage citizens.
Import of GHG inventory data from Excel
One major new feature demanded by our users is that it’s now possible to import the GHG inventory data from an excel template into the platform. What before took hours and manual transfer of data, can be done with just one click!
“The Excel import feature has allowed us to upload, in two simple steps, more than 200 municipal inventories.”
Nahia Villanueva López –NASUVINSA (Navarra). The Covenant of Mayors in Navarra is supported by LIFE-IP NAdapta-CC project, for the adaptation of Navarra region to Climate Change, and coordinated by Navarra’s Government.
By prioritizing user experience and design, an improved interface will empower signatories to report their progress with greater ease and confidence, ultimately fostering increased participation and more accurate reporting.
Graphic visualization of data through charts
The other big new feature i, is the addition of graphs and visualizations to the MyCovenant platform. Visual representations of data provide a clear and intuitive way to comprehend complex information, allowing signatories to easily identify trends, patterns, and progress at a glance. These graphs can help translate large datasets into meaningful insights, making it easier for local governments to communicate their achievements and challenges to stakeholders and the public. The graphs can be downloaded in used for communication purposes, in knowledge materials and serve policy-makers to track progress.
What are you waiting for? Test the new features of MyCovenant for yourself today!
Stay tuned: we will be developing and announcing further improvements to our platform, following the feedback from users gathered at our annual practitioners’ meeting last month.
Details
- Publication date
- 22 June 2023