European cities leading the fight against climate change: achievements of the Covenant of Mayors initiative

Cities play a crucial role in mitigating the effects of climate change. Urban energy consumption generates about three quarters of global carbon emissions (IPCC 2014). Improving energy-efficiency in buildings, increasing the renewable energy share, integrating district energy systems and a gradual transformation to more efficient transportation are the most common policies for Covenant of Mayors signatories in the path towards the transition to a clean energy future. The paper provides an assessment of progress made by 122 signatories of the Covenant of Mayors initiative as of September 2015 towards their climate mitigation and energy targets. Progress towards the GHG target is substantial and more pronounced than for the renewable energy and energy efficiency. These results underline the interconnected nature of climate and energy mitigation actions adopted at local level. One result, confirming the consistency of the “CoM data set” is that the climate and energy progress indicators are compatible with values from international datasets at national level (EEA), despite the differences on CoM sectors coverage and different inventory years. Lastly, the positive effects of these policies outweighed factors generally responsible for emissions such as the demographic growth of 8% on absolute value. Our analysis, using a sample of Covenant of Mayors dataset, representing all city sizes in Europe, demonstrates that strong urban energy policies and increased coordination between national and local governments is of a vital importance in the potential of urban mitigation of global climate change.JRC.C.2-Energy Efficiency and Renewable