8 May 2012: At the opening session of the European Union (EU)-China urbanization partnership, the EU’s Commissioner for Energy, Günther Oettinger, announced that the Covenant of Mayors will play a critical role in the upcoming EU-China Mayors’ Forum, enhancing opportunities for sharing best practices and peer-to-peer cooperation.

Established in 2008, the Covenant is an EU initiative bringing together almost 4000 local and regional authorities, which have voluntarily committed to implementing sustainable energy policies, including increasing energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy sources, and reducing CO2 emissions. The experiences gained from this initiative will provide critical input for the EU-China Mayors’ Forum, organized later this year, which will bring together European and Chinese mayors to share experiences on urban sustainable energy policies. The President of the EU’s Committee of the Regions, Mercedes Bresso, also proposed that the China Association of Mayors sign an agreement with the EU, following a similar initiative with the US Conference of Mayors and based on the EU’s Covenant of Mayors.

The EU-China Mayors’ Forum will be organized as part of the EU-China urbanization partnership, which held its opening session on 3 May. The partnership, launched in February 2012, aims to increase dialogue between European and Chinese decision makers and stakeholders on urbanization and sustainable development issues, including energy supply and demand management, and green mobility. [Covenant of Mayors Press Release] [Covenant of Mayors Initiative] [EU-China Urbanization Partnership]