EU Covenant of Mayors and European Energy Award strengthen cooperation

Through a new partnership, both initiatives aim to deepen their cooperation to deliver real impact, with a stronger focus on and understanding of national contexts.

The European Energy Award excels at embedding national energy and climate frameworks into its quality management and awarding system for local authorities. Through its 14 national (pilot) offices, the eea leads and manages national eea programmes, adapting tools and processes to national conditions to better meet the needs of local authorities. 

Working together is key to beating the clock on climate change. This is why, the European Commission, as part of the Covenant of Mayors’ decentralised strategy to recognise national energy and climate frameworks, has officially recognised the eea as an effective implementation tool for the Covenant of Mayors. 

This recognition is the first in the Covenant’s growing portfolio of partnerships, which will gradually expand to include other national and regional frameworks.  

Partnering up for climate action in practice

The partnership represents a powerful synergy for local authorities and a win-win collaboration for both initiatives, with the potential to amplify geographical coverage and impact.

Municipalities participating in the eea can join the EU Covenant of Mayors through a simplified process aligned with the eea methodology and auditing cycle. 

By joining the Covenant, eea municipalities will gain greater visibility and recognition of their efforts and achievements at EU level. It will also support them in advancing across the Covenant’s three pillars –  climate mitigation, climate adaptation, and tackling energy poverty – through access to a suite of resources, knowledge sharing, and capacity building opportunities. 

Thanks to their proven management system and the support of dedicated eea advisors, eea municipalities are well positioned to scale up their impact within Europe’s largest movement of local authorities committed to climate and energy action. 

“Solving climate change can only be achieved through cooperation: every organisation holds an important piece of the puzzle, but only by working together can we build the bigger picture. We are proud to join forces and create synergies for local authorities to strengthen their climate and energy transition efforts.” Gudrun Heute-Bluhm, President of eea

Background

The European Energy Award, a Covenant Supporter since 2010, is a quality management and awarding system that supports local authorities in implementing energy and climate policies across Europe. The eea provides a structured framework for local authorities to assess their current energy and climate performance, plan strategic actions, and continuously improve in areas such as energy efficiency, renewable energy, sustainable mobility, and climate adaptation.