The climate crisis demands united action across all sectors to meet each country's National Determined Contribution, central to the Paris Agreement's goal of curbing greenhouse gas emissions. The Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy (CoM) unites cities and municipalities voluntarily to take climate and energy action for their communities' well-being. Joining the CoM involves developing a Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan (SECAP). SECAPs, approved by local councils, outline steps to achieve 2030 interim emission reduction targets, with the long-term outlook of aiding the EU reach its 2050 climate neutrality goal. They focus on cutting emissions through technological upgrades, optimizing municipal energy consumption including heating/cooling, electricity, industry, transportation, lighting, residential energy use, and addressing methane emissions from waste sites.
The CEESEU initiative aimed to empower Central and Eastern European (CEE) public administrators in creating SECAPs that enhance energy efficiency, sustainable energy, emission reductions, and climate resilience. CEE municipalities in the CEE often lag behind their counterparts in other European regions due to factors like insufficient awareness, expertise, capacity, resources, and inadequate support from EU-level actors, including the CoM. CEESEU operated in eight EU member states: Estonia, Latvia, Poland, Czwch Republic, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, and Romania. The project:
• Developed training resources for CEE public administrators on SECAP development tailored to CEE contexts
• Assisted 22 CEE entities (mostly small municipalities) in involving stakeholders and executing multi-level governance for SECAP development
• Guided CEE municipalities in financing and executing SECAP actions
• Offered advice to the CoM and EU actors on better serving CEE municipalities in SECAP development and implementation
