Exemplary climate and clean energy transition actions at the Covenant of Mayors Investment Forum

Ms Clara de la Torre - Acting Director General in DG Climate Action, Mr Matthew Baldwin - Deputy Director General of DG Energy and Mr Östros – Vice President of the European Investment Bank – highlighted the important role of local authorities in tackling the ongoing energy crisis faced in Europe and how the European Union is supporting them. Concrete initiatives have been presented by the Mayor of Gabrovo in Bulgaria, Ms. Hristova, who stressed the importance of EU, national and local authorities finding new ways to operate in order to be more efficient in channelling investments to projects with a long-term perspective.

15 successful projects - financed through Horizon 2020, LIFE Clean Energy Transition, LIFE Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation and ELENA - were presented by practitioners to their peers. Those projects showcased their results of innovative energy planning and climate change adaptation solutions in European cities and regions, in mobilising investments into energy efficiency and renewable energy in the public sector and in boosting energy efficiency investment in residential and commercial buildings. . The event saw intensive networking amongst participants, who also benefited from institutional stands providing information on EU funding opportunities and relevant initiatives such as the European Smart Cities Marketplace or NetZeroCities which support cities in putting their climate ambitions into action.

Highlights include the session on EU City Facility (EUCF) with the example of three municipalities (Schaerbeek in Belgium, Pinerolo in Italy and Karlovac in Croatia) which developed investment concepts with the support of the technical assistance offered by the EUCF initiative, building a pipeline of sustainable energy investment projects. The PRORETRO project showed how five German cities and regions are supporting homeowners in their energy renovation projects by setting up One-Stop-Shop services designed to meet their needs.

All presentations and recordings of the project sessions are now available online – and proceedings will soon be available on the same page.

The Covenant of Mayors Investment Forum – Energy Efficiency Finance Market Place is an annual event jointly organised by the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency, the European Commission’s Directorates-Generals for Energy and Climate Action and the Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy - in the frame of the ‘Sustainable Energy Investment Forum Initiative’. It showcases successful projects on mobilising energy efficiency investments, climate adaptation and innovative energy planning, as well as successful initiatives working across Europe to facilitate the market for climate and sustainable energy finance.