Covenant of Mayors

EU Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy - Eastern Partnership

What is the Covenant of Mayors initiative?

Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy  was launched in 2008 by the European Union after the adoption of the Climate and Energy Package in order to support the efforts of local authorities in the development and implementation of sustainable energy policies, and since 2015, the Covenant of Mayors initiative has started to take a global scale.

The main goals of the Covenant of Mayors are:

· to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by implementing energy efficiency measures and expanding the use of renewable energy sources;

· to increase resilience in adaptation to climate change;

· to strengthen cooperation between municipalities, local and central executive authorities;

· to ensure safe, sustainable and reliable energy accessibility for all.

The Covenant of Mayors is signed by local and regional executive authorities that intend to achieve the above-mentioned goals, as well as take a voluntary initiative on the implementation of the EU climate and energy goals. The executive body joined to the initiative must prepare and implement a Sustainable Energy and Climate Action  Plan – SECAP for its administrative – territorial unit. The implementation of SECAP is supported by the European Union, civil societies, climate and energy funds, non-governmental organizations and various donors.

Signatories of the Covenant of Mayors initiative

The Covenant of Mayors was signed by about 11 thousand local governments and is currently one of the largest climate and energy initiatives in the world. Municipalities from the Eastern Partnership countries, including 56 from Belarus, 24 from Georgia, 52 from Moldova, and 268 from Ukraine joined the Covenant of Mayors.

The commitments of the municipalities that have signed the Covenant of Mayors are linked to the following EU climate and energy policy frameworks:

· Climate and energy measures package for 2020 for the municipalities that signed the initiative in 2008-2015

· The climate and energy measures package by 2030 for the municipalities that have signed the initiative since 2015, including the European Union strategy on adaptation to climate change.

Signatories from the Eastern Partnership countries of the Covenant of Mayors commit to reduce carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions by at least 30% by 2030 and develop a SECAP within the first two years to increase resilience to climate change in order to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change.

A national coordinating body operates in the countries that sign the Covenant of Mayors, but provide strategic guidance, technical support to municipalities that do not have the skills and/or resources necessary to meet their requirements. At the same time, the National Coordinator ensures the Coordination of the program between the EU and municipalities, contributes to the preparation and implementation of SECAP.

Covenant of Mayors initiative - Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan, which joined the Paris Climate Agreement in 2016, made a voluntary commitment to reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions by 35% by 2030, compared to the base year - 1990. After that, in November 2021, during the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) held in Glasgow, United Kingdom, Azerbaijan renewed its voluntary obligations by reducing the amount of greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2050 and declaring the liberated territories a “net zero emission” zone.

Joining the Covenant of Mayors initiative can play a positive role in fulfilling the commitments undertaken by our country by helping to implement energy efficiency measures in the regions and expand the use of renewable energy sources.

Icheri Sheher State Historical and Architectural Reserve ( in 2012) and Mingachevir municipality (in 2017) were the first to join the mayors agreement from Azerbaijan.

From 24 September 2018, the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Azerbaijan was defined as the National Coordinator signed the Covenant of Mayors on Climate and Energy.

In 2020, Sheki, Ganja (Nizami region), Yevlakh, Gazakh, Shamakhi and Khachmaz municipalities joined the initiative, and in 2022, Khirdalan Municipality of Absheron Region, and thus the number of participants from our country reached 9.

In 2021, a seminar “Covenant of Mayors Initiative – from obligations to implementation” was held in Baku for our municipalities that have joined the Covenant of Mayors. The seminar covered the preparation of SECAP, achieving the goal of reducing CO2 emissions by 2030, etc. 

On 11-15 April 2022, a preliminary seminar was held for representatives of municipalities who have just joined the initiative for the preparation of SECAP, and on 4 August 2022, a webinar on the collection of preliminary information on the preparation of the SECAP was held for the Working Groups on the preparation of the SECAP and three municipalities (Sheki, Khirdalan and the Nizami district municipality of Ganja) that approved the corresponding work schedule.

In November 2022, Khirdalan municipality also took part in the official awarding ceremony for the newly joined municipalities within the high-level conference named "10th anniversary of the Covenant of Mayors in the Eastern Partnership region” held in Tbilisi. The Ministry of Energy and the EU Delegation to Azerbaijan, as well as other municipalities that joined the initiative attended at the event.  

It should be noted that after the preparation of the SECAP, it is submitted for approval to the Office of the Covenant of Mayors, and this document plays an important role in attracting funds from international donors for projects.

Joining the Covenant of Mayors initiative

Joining the initiative as a “signer” consists of the following stages:

1. Local self-governing bodies officially apply to the Ministry of Energy with a request to join the initiative and provide appropriate support in this regard.

2. After the relevant agreement has been made, the mayor or an equivalent representative of the council is given a mandate to sign a form of Accession (in Azerbaijani and English).

3. After signing the commitment document, it is submitted by the Ministry of Energy to the Covenant of Mayors office, so the accession to the initiative is completed.

For more information to join the initiative, please follow the link below:

https://www.com-east.eu/en/join-us/join-as-a-signatory/