The Covenant of Mayors at the heart of multilevel governance

The European Union’s commitment to climate action is deeply intertwined with multilevel governance, a process that fosters collaboration across all levels of government, from local municipalities to national bodies. The Covenant of Mayors is at the heart of this collaborative effort, creating a space for local authorities’ climate action to align with regional and national level action.  

At this year’s European Week of Regions and Cities, we heard from two Covenant supporters who presented how they were leveraging this approach and the Covenant framework to ensure coordinated climate action, particularly in planning, financing and implementation. 

Setting up multilevel dialogue and cooperation in Croatia 

The first Covenant supporter we heard from was Croatia’s North-West Regional Energy and Climate Agency, REGEA. This regional energy agency serves as a knowledge centre providing innovative solutions in the energy and environmental sector through European projects. Covenant supporters since 2014, they use the Covenant framework to empower municipalities in Croatia with their energy transition.

More recently, REGEA has been in charge of setting up multilevel dialogues on climate and energy, involving representatives of Croatian municipalities and key national Ministries, as part of the European LIFE-funded NECPlatform project. This project supports the establishment of multilevel dialogue platforms on climate and energy in six European countries, including Croatia.  

In Croatia, the dialogues have been very successful in gathering key stakeholders around the table to discuss the country’s National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP) and beyond. The fourth dialogue, which happened not long ago, was focused on financing, with the active participation of the Ministry of Finance. The discussion highlighted a significant gap in financing for subnational entities to drive the energy transition, prompting the creation of a national platform for sustainable finance.  

The dialogue platform has thus proved as a crucial space to align Croatia’s National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) with local and regional implementation, particularly through the creation of this new platform for sustainable finance.  

SECAPs and Local-Level Implementation in Croatia

REGEA also plans to capitalise on the Covenant planning framework to fill the gaps in Croatia’s adaptation planning. As the Climate Law has not fully been implemented in Croatia, Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plans (SECAPs) are serving as the main planning documents for integrated climate adaptation and mitigation. To reinforce local level planning and its link to national level, REGEA is striving to make SECAPs a conditionality for cities to respond to calls coming from Ministries on Adaptation regarding adaptation actions.

Beyond ensuring municipalities are developing such plans, REGEA is also actively ensuring that they are implementable. Without integration of local climate and energy plans into local and regional development plans, SECAPs risk not being implemented. For SECAPs to be effective, REGEA is betting on the fact that they must be woven into spatial plans and development documents. As Miljenko Sedlar, head of climate at REGEA, put it in the session, "if it’s in the spatial plan, it’s going to happen." Croatia is now on this path, seeking to align climate and energy plans with budgeting processes at all governance levels. 

Getting Regions on board with the Covenant of Mayors in Italy

The second Covenant supporter we heard from was the Agenzia per l’Energia e lo Sviluppo Sostenibile, AESS, from Italy.  

Italy's experience is a great example showcasing how multilevel governance is crucial for the success of the Covenant of Mayors, underscoring the importance of regional coordination in driving local climate action. AESS knows that regions as coordinators of the Covenant of Mayors, can provide essential capacity building, technical and financial support to municipalities that are developing SECAPs.  

AESS thus work actively to get regions involved in the Covenant and supporting municipalities. They have been particularly successful in the regions of Emilia Romagna and Apulia, demonstrating that regional leadership can set up programmes guaranteeing financial and technical support to Covenant signatories.

The case of Emilia Romagna, which faced devastating flooding last year, was a stark reminder of the burdens mayors face in managing the impacts of climate change. Benedetta Brighenti, President of AESS, highlighted during the session that multilevel governance is essential for distributing responsibilities faced with these burdens, ensuring that mayors are supported by national and regional frameworks. Emilia Romagna became the first Italian region to fully embrace SECAPs, helping 266 municipalities develop climate plans and securing financing for 83 joint or standard SECAPs. Now the region is starting to finance the monitoring work of these municipalities, to ensure a follow-up to their planned action.

While achieving climate neutrality by 2050 is the long-term goal, the next decade will be critical in shaping future outcomes. Regional initiatives, such as Apulia’s fund for municipalities, demonstrate that regions can take the lead in advancing climate action. However, convincing entire regions to join the effort requires persistent advocacy and support from technical bodies like AESS. After Emilia Romagna and Apulia, the association is now getting the Tuscany region to replicate and prepared a similar fund for its provinces, helping municipalities with the Covenant process.

The Covenant of Mayors shows that multilevel governance is more than a process—it’s a necessary framework for achieving climate goals. As regions and cities continue to collaborate, the path to a sustainable and resilient future becomes more tangible.