The First 39 Sustainable Energy Action Plans (SEAPs) of the Covenant of Mayors Signatories

 

The first 39 Sustainable Energy Action Plans (SEAPs) of the Covenant of Mayors signatories (*) have been handed to the European Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs. These SEAPs have been developed by municipalities within Diputació de Barcelona, and therefore they were handed by Barcelona Provincial Council. This meeting marks a step change from preparation to action, as signatories have a year from signature to submission of their SEAPs.

“The Covenant of Mayors has reached the stage of maturity,” said Commissioner Piebalgs. “With 900 cities on board and 40 Supporting Structures, I am proud to say the Covenant has become an unprecedented movement of local and regional authorities. The first 39 Sustainable Energy Action Plans delivered by the Barcelona Province clearly demonstrate that regions and provinces play a crucial role in changing our energy landscape and make a key contribution in the fight against climate change” he added.

The Diputació de Barcelona was the first Supporting Structure to the Covenant of Mayors, offering both technical and financial support for the development of the individual SEAPs to the Covenant signatories. The finalised SEAPs come from municipalities with populations ranging from 300 to 200000 inhabitants that plan to reduce emissions by nearly one million tonnes of CO2 equivalent by 2020.

Supporting Structures have a key role in helping smaller public authorities complete the technically challenging SEAP process. In Bulgaria there are three organizations with a statute of supporting structures- EcoEnergy (the Bulgarian Municipal Energy Efficiency Network), the Regional Association of Municipalities "Central Stara Planina", and the Union of Bulgarian Black Sea Local Authorities & Black Sea Regional Agency for Energy Management. Six Bulgarian towns and cities have signed the Covenant with Plovdiv being the city, which joined the Covenant most recently - on 5 November.

SEAPs involve drafting emissions assessments, diagnosis and strategy documents, action plans, participation plans, monitoring plans and the final Action plan that is submitted to the European Commission and published on the Covenant website. This submission can be, however, made more easily, following the SEAP on-line template, which is now available through the covenant website.

(*) The European Union (EU) is leading the global fight against climate change, and has made it a top priority. Its ambitious targets are spelt out in the EU Climate Action and Renewable Energy Package, which commits Member States to curb their CO2 emissions by at least 20% by 2020. Signatories of the Covenant of Mayors contribute to these policy objectives through a formal commitment to go beyond this target through the implementation of their Sustainable Energy Action Plan.

Source: Covenant of Mayors