First Meeting of the Coordination Group of Covenant of Mayors Signatory Municipalities and Second Meeting of the Mayors Club took place
29th September 2020
To mark the formal launching of work of the Climate Change Council in Georgia, on September 29, 2020, officials of municipal, regional and central Governments participated in the first meeting of Coordination Group of Covenant of Mayors (CoM) Signatory Municipalities and the second meeting of the Mayors Club.
The support to organize the online meeting was provided within the project “Georgia’s Integrated Transparency Framework for Implementation of the Paris Agreement” (ITF), initiated by the Ministry of Environment Protection and Agriculture of Georgia and funded by the Global Environmental Facility (GEF). The project is implemented by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Regional Environmental Centre for the Caucasus (REC Caucasus), and runs from 2019-2023. It aims to help Georgia meet the Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF) requirements under the Paris Agreement. Within the project, RECC supports municipal inter-agency coordination to harmonize commitment implementation process within the CoM.
The purpose of the mentioned online meeting of the municipal representatives was to adopt the rules of operation, recommendations on modalities, procedures and guidelines, as well as strategic directions under the Covenant of Mayors initiative.
Moreover, the Covenant Supporter in Georgia, which promote the Covenant of Mayors initiative and support the commitments of their signatories, was presented the roadmap for Georgia on overcoming challenges in Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP)/Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan (SECAP) implementation. Participants of the meeting discussed matters related to the CoM Georgia and agreed on the following documents:
The Covenant of Mayors (CoM) is the European movement involving local and regional authorities (signatories), voluntarily committing to increasing energy efficiency and use of renewable energy sources on their territories. By their commitment, Covenant signatories aim to meet and exceed the European Union 20% CO2 reduction objective by 2020 and/or at least 30% reduction by 2030. Over the last ten years up to date, 24 municipalities and cities in Georgia have become signatories of the CoM (Covenant of Mayors) and plan to meet the stated CO2 reduction goals.
Along with Covenant signatories and supporters, there are currently 2 Covenant National Coordinators in Georgia, including the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia, and the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia and 3 territorial coordinators.
