Covenant of Mayors
Climate Change
Adapting to climate change is not an entirely new topic for Ostrava, though the city (like other Czech cities) has only recently begun to address this issue in a systematic manner. In 2011 Ostrava became the first Czech city to join the Covenant of Mayors.
The Covenant of Mayors was launched in 2008 in Europe with the ambition to gather local governments voluntarily committed to achieving and exceeding the EU climate and energy targets. Not only did the initiative introduce a first-of-its-kind bottom-up approach to energy and climate action, but its success quickly went beyond expectations.
The initiative now gathers 7,000+ local and regional authorities across 57 countries drawing on the strengths of a worldwide multi-stakeholder movement and the technical and methodological support offered by dedicated offices.
The Global Covenant of Mayors – to be launched on 1st January 2017 – will capitalise on the experience gained over the past eight years in Europe and beyond, and build upon the key success factors of the initiative: its bottom-up governance, its multi-level cooperation model and its context-driven framework for action.
By joining the Covenant, Ostrava accepted a commitment to draw up a Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP), which includes:
- benchmarking of greenhouse gas emissions and plans for specific activities and measures to reduce greenhouse gases, including a long-term vision up to 2030;
- a commitment to reduce CO2 emissions.
The SEAP was drawn up in 2013 and updated in 2016. In 2017, the City of Ostrava – working in conjunction with experts – produced an updated version of its action plan with a stronger emphasis on climate-related issues (SECAP – Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan).
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