Participants highlighted actions taken by local authorities to enhance energy security at a High-Level Conference on Energy Security.
The European Commission (EC) organized the conference, 'Local Authorities for the Energy Security of Europe,' in the context of the Covenant of Mayors initiative, which has helped translate the 2020 EU climate and energy targets into local action across Europe.
10 October 2014: Participants highlighted actions taken by local authorities to enhance energy security at a High-Level Conference on Energy Security. The European Commission (EC) organized the conference, titled ‘Local Authorities for the Energy Security of Europe,’ in the context of the Covenant of Mayors initiative, which has helped translate the 2020 EU climate and energy targets into local action across Europe.
The conference, which convened on 9 October in Brussels, Belgium, follows the European Energy Security Strategy, which the European Union (EU) Commission issued in May as a response to the political crisis in Ukraine and the need for a stable and abundant energy supply in Europe. The strategy recommends, inter alia, an “accelerated implementation of the Sustainable Energy Action Plans submitted by municipalities participating to the Covenant of Mayors.”
The conference included a session emphasizing local actions that are improving energy efficiency in six European states that are especially vulnerable to energy supply disruptions because they import 100 percent of their natural gas from the Russian Federation. Representatives from cities in these countries described how measures like fuel-switching in district heating (DH) networks and locally-sourced energy from wood chips and waste heat are contributing to self-sufficiency. The EC’s Joint Research Centre estimates that such measures could reduce natural gas consumption by 58 percent. A second session addressed financing city energy action plans through crowdsourcing, revolving funds and other innovative mechanisms.
Conference speakers included: Günther Oettinger, EC, in charge of Energy; Michel Lebrun, Committee of the Regions (CoR); Jerzy Buzek, European Parliament; and Klaus-Dieter Borchardt and Dominique Ristori, Directorate-General (DG) Energy of the EC.
Established in 2008, the Covenant is an EU initiative bringing together over 6,000 local and regional authorities that have voluntarily committed to implementing sustainable energy policies, including increasing energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy sources and reducing carbon dioxide emissions. [Covenant of Mayors Press Release] [High Level Conference Website] [Conference Agenda]