The Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy is a unique political movement steered by mayors.
The European Covenant of Mayors Board gives local and regional leaders the opportunity to play a greater role in shaping and further guiding the initiative. Board members will also campaign for enabling frameworks for local climate and energy action from the national and European level, raising awareness about local needs amongst European and national decision makers.
This Board of Mayors aims to discuss the strategic orientations of the initiative, to ensure it best fits cities’ needs and is further tailored to their expectations and to foster the dialogue between the European Covenant Community and the EU institutions.
The Board is composed of 7 mayors or local elected representatives.
Members
Name:Michael Collins
Position:Mayor of the City and County of Limerick
Country:Ireland
"It is important that we all work together to achieve our climate action goals. No section of society is unaffected by the changes that are happening in our world. We must ensure that our work and future developments have a core theme and objective of protecting and enhancing our environment and we must achieve these through innovative and novel solutions."
Name:Alexander Vandersmissen
Position:Mayor of Mechelen
Country:Belgium
"Of all governmental levels, local authorities are most probably nearest to the citizens. That is why mayors must lead by example and work together in their responsibility to convince our citizens of the necessity and urgency of the energy shift and other climate ambitions in this covenant.”
Name:Rafał Trzaskowski
Position:Mayor of Warsaw
Country:Poland
“Local and regional leaders are fully committed to the Green Deal. We want to implement ambitious, yet realistic targets that will serve our local communities, also by creating new jobs – so desperately needed today, and improving competitiveness of our local businesses. We believe that a more ambitious climate policy can support and not undermine a successful economic recovery from the crisis caused by the pandemic.”
Name:Hermano Sanches Ruivo
Position:Deputy Mayor of Paris
Country:France
"Following the purposeful and resolute guidance of the Paris Agreement, we are ready to embrace a sustainable future. As a public entity closest to citizens, cities and municipalities, members of the Covenant, have an instrumental role to play. We must push harder and further to achieve our common goal of recovery, resilience and sustainability, and do it together"
Name:Martin Horn
Position:Lord Mayor of Freiburg
Country:Germany
"We need to enact a rapid and deep transformation of our society to ensure that it is more sustainable and just for all. Recovery plans after COVID-19 should serve as an opportunity to enforce and speed up climate neutrality, which can help us tackle another crisis unfolding all over our planet - climate breakdown."
Name:Belinda Gottardi
Position:Mayor of Castel Maggiore
Country:Italy
"The fight against climate change must be channelled through a new awareness of Local Governments and citizens, the awareness of the need for a global commitment and a radical change in our lifestyle. This cultural transition must be guided by local administrations in a shared and participatory path with economic and social actors together with citizens."
Name:Pilar Díaz Romero
Position:Mayor of Esplugues de Llobregat
Country:Spain
Name:Eckart Würzner
Position:Lord Mayor of Heidelberg
Country:Germany
"We are ready to go further in our actions in order to accelerate the energy transition and tackle climate change, in line with the Paris Agreement."
Name:Katarina Luhr
Position:Deputy Mayor of Stockholm
Country:Sweden
"As elected officials we owe it to our citizens to not only acknowledge the dangers of global warming, but ensure they never actually come to pass. That’s why Stockholm joined the Covenant of Mayors."
Name:Julije Domac
Position:Director of REGEA, the North-West Croatia Energy Agency
Country:Croatia
"European regions and energy agencies should play a key role in planning, developing and implementing sustainable energy projects at all levels."