EU project helps southern Mediterranean municipalities join Covenant of Mayors to implement sustainable local policies

The EU-funded project ‘Cleaner energy-saving Mediterranean cities’ (CES MED) has achieved considerable progress, with seven municipalities from the Southern Mediterranean having already adhered to the Covenant of Mayors, and more than a hundred planning to do so.

The project assists a selection of 2-3 Local Authorities per beneficiary country in analysing their current sustainability situation and in developing and implementing sustainable local policies such as the Covenant of Mayors (CoM). In parallel, the project works with national authorities to improve their understanding of how the implementation of sustainable policies at local level can be beneficial at a national level.

The Covenant of Mayors is the mainstream European movement involving local and regional authorities, 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.

In total, 128 municipalities from the Southern Mediterranean are planning to join the Covenant of Mayors through the project. Seven of them have already joined and they are:Bechmezzine and Kousba (Lebanon), Sfax (Tunisia), Rosh Haayin, Shefa ’amr and Ramla (Israel). Six municipalities have started the process of adhesion, through municipal council and they are: Baakline (Lebanon), Sousse and Kairouan (Tunisia), Oujda and Agadir (Morocco), Nablus (Palestine). Fifteen municipalities have submitted or are currently finalising their applications to the Covenant of Mayors: 12 municipalities from the Federation of Municipalities of the Higher Chouf (Lebanon), Salfeet (Palestine), Mi'lya village, Galilee (Israel) and La Marsa (Tunisia). A further 100 are planning to adhere to the CoM.

‘Cleaner energy-saving Mediterranean cities’ (CES MED)aims to develop the capacities of local authorities in the region to formulate and implement sustainable local policies, such as those implied by joining the Covenant of Mayors. It intends to expand the use at local level of sustainable policies, such as renewable energy solutions and energy efficiency measures to reduce CO2 emissions, as well as efficient water and waste management, environment-friendly public transport, etc. The project will also contribute to making national authorities more aware of and responsive to the need for and advantages of a strong involvement of cities in local sustainable policy issues. (EU Neighbourhood Info Centre)

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Press release

Cleaner energy-saving Mediterranean cities (CES MED) - fiche and news

Cleaner energy-saving Mediterranean cities (CES MED) - website

Covenant of Mayors

Contact information	n/a
News type	Inbrief
File link	http://www.covenantofmayors.eu/index_en.html
Source of information	ENPI Info Centre
Subject(s)	ANALYSIS AND TESTS , CHARACTERISTICAL PARAMETERS OF WATERS AND SLUDGES , DRINKING WATER , DRINKING WATER AND SANITATION : COMMON PROCESSES OF PURIFICATION AND TREATMENT , ENERGY , FINANCE-ECONOMY , HEALTH - HYGIENE - PATHOGENIC MICROORGANISM , HYDRAULICS - HYDROLOGY , INDUSTRY , INFORMATION - COMPUTER SCIENCES , INFRASTRUCTURES , MEASUREMENTS AND INSTRUMENTATION , METHTODOLOGY - STATISTICS - DECISION AID , NATURAL MEDIUM , PREVENTION AND NUISANCES POLLUTION , RIGHT , RISKS AND CLIMATOLOGY , SANITATION -STRICT PURIFICATION PROCESSES , SLUDGES , TOOL TERMS , TOURISM - SPORT - HOBBIES , WATER DEMAND , WATER QUALITY
Relation	http://ces-med.eu/news/item/status-of-adhesion-of-south-mediterranean-municipalities-to-the-com
Geographical coverage	n/a
News date	19/06/2014
Working language(s)	ENGLISH

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