EU promotes the Global Covenant of Mayors in Indonesia and South East Asia
Surabaya, 13 September 2018
Press Release
EU promotes the Global Covenant of Mayors in Indonesia and Southeast Asia
Today, the European Union (EU) Ambassador to Indonesia, H.E. Vincent Guérend, encouraged cities from Indonesia and South East Asia to join the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy (GCoM). The initiative is a global coalition of city leaders dedicated to reducing their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, make their communities more resilient to climate change and regularly report their progress publicly. The announcement was done during the 7th Congress of United Cities and Local Governments Asia Pacific (UCLG ASPAC) held in Surabaya.
The Global Covenant of Mayors in Indonesia is supported by the EU through the International Urban Cooperation (IUC) project. By participating in the GCoM, cities will reinforce their commitment to climate action by taking stock of greenhouse gas emissions and the current effects of climate change, creating an action plan including clear and ambitious reduction targets, and implementing a common system of measuring those emissions and monitoring climate risks.
“Today's launch of the Global Covenant of Mayors in South East Asia here in Surabaya is an important milestone in its development” said EU Ambassador Vincent Guérend. “It will allow us to do more to assist cities in realising their climate ambition. The potential is huge: by 2030, Global Covenant cities could collectively reduce 1.3 billion tons of CO2 emissions per year, compared to a business-as-usual scenario. This is as much as taking 276 million fossil-fuel cars off the road," said Ambassador Guérend after the launch event that was attended by more than two hundred experts from Indonesian and other Asian cities. The event was held in cooperation with Secretariat of the Global Covenant of Mayors and was opened by the Indonesian Minister for Energy and Mineral Resources, Ignatius Jonan.
Under the leadership of European Commission’s Vice President, Maroš Šefčovič, and UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change, Michael R. Bloomberg, the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy formally brings together the European Covenant of Mayors and the Compact of Mayors, the world’s two primary initiatives of cities and local governments to advance their transition to a low emission and climate resilient economy, and to demonstrate their global impact.
The Global Covenant of Mayors enables cities to do more, faster. By bringing mayors together to share best practices and collaborate on local goals, the Global Covenant of Mayors is helping local leaders meet climate targets set by national, international, and multilateral agreements. The Global Covenant of Mayors reflects the commitment that cities are making to reduce carbon emissions and the crucial role they play in confronting climate change.
Recent research shows that if every local government in the world took action in accordance with the Global Covenant of Mayors—particularly by targeting their building energy, transportation, and waste sectors—they could reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by the equivalent of cutting the world’s annual coal use by more than half.
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