The "First Meeting of the Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy of the Canary Islands", which was held by the Ministry of Ecological Transition, Fight against Climate Change and Territorial Planning, through the Green Offices of the Canary Islands, and the Canary Federation of Municipalities (FECAM), on February 15, was attended by representatives of all the municipalities of the Archipelago, as well as members of the seven councils and Miguel Morcillo, representative of the European Union (EU) for Spain in the Office of the Covenant of Mayors.
In the meeting, which was held virtually, Morcillo highlighted this pioneering initiative in Spain that seeks to promote the achievement of priority objectives for the ecological transition and the fight against climate change, such as the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions.
In addition, the regional Minister for Ecological Transition, Fight against Climate Change and Territorial Planning, José Antonio Valbuena, recalls that the Canary Islands is the only autonomous community in which all its municipalities have joined this alliance of European cities for climate and energy.
The person in charge of opening the session on behalf of the regional Executive was the Deputy Minister for the Fight against Climate Change, Miguel Ángel Pérez, who indicated that “the importance of this meeting lies in the fact that we all work together, in the same direction, unifying criteria and actions to define the roadmap that the Canary Islands Government is already setting with the development of laws and strategies and that will mark the course in the immediate future in terms of decarbonization and sustainability, but also in the economy and well-being of citizens”.
The president of FECAM, Mari Brito, also expressed herself in the same sense, who stressed the key role that municipalities play in mitigating climate change and adapting to it, approving and, especially, implementing their SECAPs (Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan) with the aim of reducing CO2 and increasing resilience to climate change. In addition, she thanked the Ministry of Ecological Transition, Fight against Climate Change and Territorial Planning for the incentive measures launched in 2020 and which will be reinforced in this year.
The program continued with the intervention of the Coordinator of the Office of the Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy of Spain before the EU, Miguel Morcillo, who explained to local representatives the existing funding opportunities that are linked to compliance with this pact, as well as the latest developments regarding climate neutrality and energy poverty.
The trajectory and experiences of this pact in the Canary Islands were also a matter of debate by Raúl García Brink and Víctor García, representing the island councils of Gran Canaria and Tenerife, respectively.
The main objective established by the agreement on climate neutrality was also discussed, with the participation of the Councilor for Sustainability of the La Matanza de Acentejo City Council, Miguel Ángel Pérez Pío; the Councilor for Urban Planning of the Ingenio City Council, Victoria E. Santana; and the Councilor for Environmental Sustainability of the El Pinar City Council, Magaly Zamora.
The day came to an end with the celebration of three presentations linked to energy communities and the production of sustainable energies by the Councilor for Sustainability of Adeje, Manuel Luis Méndez; the representative of La Palma Renovable, Nuria Albert; and the professor and director of the Master's Degree in Renewable Energies of the University of La Laguna, Ricardo Guerrero.
Objectives of the Covenant of Mayors
The municipalities that are signatories to the Covenant of Mayors share a common vision that is directly related to key aspects such as accelerating the decarbonization of their territories, strengthening their capacity to adapt to the unavoidable impacts of climate change and ensuring that citizens enjoy access to safe, sustainable and affordable energy.
The Covenant of Mayors is the world's largest movement of cities for local action on climate and energy. Around this initiative, thousands of local governments are grouped together, voluntarily committing to implement the European Union's climate and energy objectives.
The Covenant of Mayors was born in 2008 in Europe with the purpose of bringing together local governments that voluntarily committed to achieve and exceed the EU's climate and energy objectives. The initiative not only introduced an innovative approach to climate and energy-related actions, but its success soon exceeded all expectations.
It currently includes more than 7,000 local and regional authorities that take advantage of the strengths of a movement that involves multiple actors and has the technical and methodological support of dedicated offices.
Due to the success recorded in Europe with this Pact, the Global Covenant of Mayors has been born, which takes advantage of the experience gained during the last eight years in Europe and which has already been implemented in 57 countries.
