• Global Covenant of Mayors: Amanda Eichel (info@globalcovenantofmayors.org) For cities interested in the Global Covenant of Mayors, contact information follows by region:

• For cities in the European Union and in countries of the European Free Trade Association, please contact the EU Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy: info@eumayors.eu

• For cities in the Eastern neighborhood of the European Union, please contact: info-east@eumayors.eu

• For cities in the Mediterranean region, please contact: info-south@eumayors.eu

• For cities in Sub-Saharan Africa, please contact: covenantofmayors_ssa@yahoo.com

• In the first quarter of 2017, Regional Covenants in North America, South America, China & South-East Asia, India and Japan will be set up. Until that moment, please contact the Secretariat for the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy (info@globalcovenantofmayors.org)

• For cities in all other regions: Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy (info@globalcovenantofmayors.org)

https://www.compactofmayors.org/globalcovenantofmayors/

The initiative will be led by a Board of Advisors, co-chaired by European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič and Former Mayor and UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change Michael Bloomberg. Funding for this initiative is currently provided by the European Commission and Bloomberg Philanthropies.

A small Secretariat will be established to support activities taking place through the “Regional Covenants,” support the Board and the other bodies of the Global Covenant of Mayors, develop together with the Regional Covenants overarching strategies, principles and for data management, research concepts and communication strategies, including ensuring visibility at major events.

A “Founders Council” and subsidiary technical working groups will be made up of “founding” partners to the Compact of Mayors and the Covenant of Mayors (the European Commission, C40, ICLEI, UCLG, Climate Alliance, CEMR, Eurocities, Energy Cities, FEDARENE as well as UN Habitat). The Founders Council will ensure that the Global Covenant of Mayors continues to serve, and be supported by, this important constituency.

Finally, a “Finance Advisory Council” will be established, harnessing expertise of both public and private investors, to advice the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy.

Covenant of Mayors cities are already actively reporting on outcomes and by December 2016, so that it will be possible to present reports on impact based on concrete measures and action plans.

The Compact of Mayors and the Covenant of Mayors will publish two reports detailing the aggregative impact of commitments that cities have made through the respective initiative at COP 22, bringing in data both from fully “compliant” cities as well as those at the beginning of the process. All cities that made commitments to the Compact of Mayors and to the Covenant of Mayors agree to report publicly the results of a city GHG inventory and climate risk assessment, set public targets for emissions reductions and adaptation and develop climate action & adaptation plans. Given the emphasis of COP22 on Africa, progress made in reaching out to cities in Sub-Saharan Africa will be highlighted at COP22.

'For 2020 and beyond?' Long term goals of the Global Covenant of Mayors are to: Increase the number of cities making public commitments to reduce emissions, improve resilience, and enhance access to clean and affordable energy, through the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy. Signatories commit to achieving or surpassing the relevant national commitment(s) regarding climate change mitigation and adaptation and energy access to all, which are made, inter alia, in the context of the United Nations’ Paris Agreement through the Nationally Determined Contributions or the Sustainable Development Goals. Support multi-level governance approaches that result in more efficient achievement of results, in particular fostering the co-operation among the various government layers in each country as well as global and regional city networks and other city service providers active in this space. Advance all committed cities through all steps to compliance – for mitigation, adaptation and access to sustainable and affordable energy (target  inventory  plan  implementation). Link reported data on city climate commitments and impact to financial investments in new, low carbon, climate resilient infrastructure in cities and local governments.

Following the setting up of the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy we are in the process of establishing the Board and the Secretariat, as well as advisory councils of networks and financial institutions. Each of these “bodies” will adopt terms of reference and the Global Covenant of Mayors Board will agree on a work plan for the initiative in early 2017. To date, a charter for the initiative has been established and is available here: http://www. globalcovenantofmayors/.

Compact of Mayors commitments have also surpassed 500 with cities of all sizes from 6 continents in 94 countries. To date a total of 594 cities have made public commitments to the Compact and are making progress in achieving their annual milestones. Signatories to the EU Covenant of Mayors signatories now stand at over 7000; almost 5500 Action Plans (with an horizon 2020) are already being implemented. Since COP21 (latest update September 2016): • 300 new cities have signed up to the new commitments of the EU Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy (horizon 2030, integrating mitigation, adaptation and access to sustainable and affordable energy). • The new Covenant for Mayors for Climate & Energy Reporting Framework and Guidelines has been launched in July 2016. The Covenant of Mayors in Sub-Saharan Africa was launched at COP21 in Paris. The first cities to benefit from financial and technical support will be announced at COP22. A Covenant of Mayors Office – SSA (CoMO-SSA) has been put in place for supporting towns and cities to join the initiative in Accra, Ghana. The Covenant of Mayors East (CoMO-East has been in place since 2011, the initiative has been very successful in mobilising and supporting cities to undertake climate action, with almost 200 cities having signed up in the Eastern Partnership countries. A new CoMO-East Secretariat, with local branches in each country, is in place since May 2016. We will be working until the end of the year to bring these under the umbrella of the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy.

At EU level, the Covenant of Mayors is included in various National Action Plans in Italy, Germany, Croatia, Cyprus, Malta, Poland and other Member States. In addition, activities of the Covenant of Mayors are already explicitly mentioned in some non-EU (I)NDCs, for instance the submitted INDCs of Georgia and Armenia, as the most intensive pre-2020 mitigation action in those countries. The Global Covenant of Mayors will capitalize on these experiences. Cities and local governments wanting to join the Global Covenant of Mayors should do so through a Regional Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy or by directly by contacting the Secretariat of the Global Covenant of Mayors as long as no regional Covenant exists. Cities joining the Global Covenant commit to achieving or surpassing the relevant national commitment(s) regarding climate change mitigation and adaptation and energy access to all. We aim to build on the critical involvement of partner institutions to bring in the engagement of other national and/or local governments in other regions – through regional covenants as appropriate. These would be coordinated with the Global Covenant of Mayors Secretariat, for those issues providing added value to signatories – but would respond to local conditions and priorities of relevant NDCs.