The cities of Sofia (Bulgaria) and Bucharest (Romania) just joined the list of European capitals which have signed the Covenant of Mayors, pledging to take decisive actions in an effort to curb their CO₂ emissions by at least 20% by 2020.

The impact of the Covenant of Mayors Covenant of Mayors The Covenant of Mayors is the mainstream European movement involving local and regional authorities in the fight against climate change. It is based on a voluntary commitment by signatories to meet and exceed the EU 20% CO₂ reduction objective through increased energy efficiency and development of renewable energy sources. in this region is indeed steadily growing. This in part is to be attributed to the involvement of Covenant Supporter NALAS, the umbrella organisation of local authorities from South East Europe, which notably organised a high level conference last March in Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina) leading up to the adhesion of over 20 cities from the region.

Precisely one year ago, the network issued a common declaration, co-signed by the Council of European Municipalities and Regions, Energy Cities and the Foundation for the Sustainable Development of the Regions (FEDRE), calling for the support of the Covenant of Mayors Covenant of Mayors The Covenant of Mayors is the mainstream European movement involving local and regional authorities in the fight against climate change. It is based on a voluntary commitment by signatories to meet and exceed the EU 20% CO₂ reduction objective through increased energy efficiency and development of renewable energy sources. extension to Western Balkans countries.

Capacity-building initiatives, such as ManagEnergy, which coordinated the organisation of a dedicated workshop in Sofia around the same period, also played a key role in the Covenant development in the Black Sea region.

Close to 3 000 Covenant Signatories Signatories Signatories represent cities, with different size from small villages to major metropolitan areas such as London or Paris, that have signed the Covenant of Mayors on a voluntary manner and are committed to implement sustainable energy policies to meet and exceed the EU 20% CO₂ reduction objective through increased energy efficiency and development of renewable energy sources. , representing over 130 million inhabitants, have already chosen to move away from fossil-fuel dependence and exploit the renewable energy potential of their territory. With the growing interest of European capitals, this number is set to increase. In Balkan countries seven capitals – Skopje (Macedonia), Podgorica (Montenegro), Zagreb (Croatia), Sarajevo (Bosnia Herzegovina), Ljubljana (Slovenia) and now Sofia and Bucharest – already number among the signatories Signatories Signatories represent cities, with different size from small villages to major metropolitan areas such as London or Paris, that have signed the Covenant of Mayors on a voluntary manner and are committed to implement sustainable energy policies to meet and exceed the EU 20% CO₂ reduction objective through increased energy efficiency and development of renewable energy sources. .