Future of the Covenant of Mayors in Europe: Climate neutrality, fairness, inclusiveness

Our office conducted an online survey during the summer 2020 aimed at collecting local and regional authorities’ views and suggestions on the future of the Covenant initiative in Europe.

The outcome will be used to reposition the initiative in its new (policy, social, economic) context and transform it so that it best support climate transition and empowers local authorities in the recovery process.

In 2020, the Covenant of Mayors - Europe is reaching an important milestone linked to its 2020 targets, but also a decisive turning point. It is time to set a new course for the initiative in a new political landscape and a challenging post-COVID-19 recovery phase.

The results of the survey are now available! We seize the opportunity to thank all the respondents, your participation is key to make the Covenant of Mayors movement as tailored to your needs as possible.

Scaling up ambition – On the way to climate-neutral and resilient cities

91% of the respondents are in favour of making climate neutrality a long-term target for cities/regions in the Covenant of Mayors - Europe.

 62% of the respondents would be in favour of scaling up the Covenant of Mayors adaptation commitment, 58% of them by making adaptation targets compulsory.

Enlarging the scope of action

74% of the participants declare that they have already taken actions to reduce emissions in ‘non-energy related sectors’, and a large majority of respondents (80%) support the idea to enlarge the scope of the Covenant of Mayors to even more ‘non-energy related sectors’, either as a mandatory or optional reporting requirement (37% each).

Broadening commitments – Towards wider societal engagement

97% of the respondents are in favour of promoting multi-players’ commitments (e.g. citizens, businesses) in the Covenant, either in a ‘soft’ or a ‘stronger’ way (46% and 51% respectively).

Climate emergency

More than half of the respondents have already declared climate emergency and/or made climate policy a priority; 35% are consideringdoing so.

A very large majority of respondents (96% in total) declares being in favour of further emphasizing the climate emergency in the framework of the Covenant of Mayors - Europe, either in a ‘soft’ or ‘stronger’ way (40% and 56% respectively). However, this varies depending on the country.

>> Download the full-text analysis of the survey results

>> Download the summary of the survey results

photos Lukas on Pexels (thumbnail), Aleksejs Bergmanis on Pexels (article)