Сovenant of Mayors-East: Supporting Participation of Eastern Partnership and CA Cities in the Covenant of Mayors

Since 2011, CAREC has participated in the EU project “Covenant of Mayors - East”, which covered five countries of Central Asia, and was aimed at the development and implementation of sustainable energy development programs for local authorities. 

Currently, about 200 cities in the countries of the European Neighborhood and Central Asia are part of the “Covenant of Mayors” community, representing almost 6,800 signatories together with European countries. 

Thanks to the close cooperation between the “Agreement of Mayors-East” project and European partners, today there are 15 signatory cities in Central Asia: Astana, Aksu, Lisakovsk, Karaganda, Petropavlovsk, Satpayev, Taraz, Temirtau, Zhezkazgan (RK), Osh , Talas, Shopokov, Kerben and Orlovka (KR) and Somonyoyon (RT), and 4 of them have already developed sustainable energy action plans (SEA). 

The “Covenant of Mayors” project was supported by two national coordinators (CNCs) in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, as well as by six national supporters (CNSs) in Kazakhstan (2), Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. 

Covenant of Mayors is a flagship initiative of the European Union, bringing together local, regional and national authorities in fulfilling their authorities to reduce CO2 emissions by at least 20% by 2020 by contributing to the development of "green economy" and to improve the quality of life.

"Covenant of Mayors - East" aims to support municipalities and regional authorities in the countries of Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia who are ready to become a part of the initiative "Covenant of Mayors". Cities participating in the initiative reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by 20% and as a result - saving significant amount of money, while increasing the living comfort in their area.

The project aimed to promote sustainable energy development at the local or regional level, as well as the provision of a reliable energy supply. Members of the Covenant voluntarily commit to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on their territories through increase of energy efficiency and use of renewable energy sources. Within voluntarily assumed obligations, cities develop project management skills needed to implement local programs for sustainable energy supply and the Action Plan for Sustainable Energy (SEAP) in the Covenant of Mayors Office in Brussels. This comprehensive overview of the main action for the development of sustainable energy is developed and served for a year after joining the agreement. SEAP card is left to achieve energy and climate goals at the local level.

• Formation and implementation of sustainable energy development programs for local authorities;

• Exchange of experience and information between the EU and Central Asia based on national and regional particularities and priorities;

• Transfer of knowledge between the signatory cities of the EU regarding the developed and successfully implemented plans;

• Development of managers' potential in the field of energy efficiency, sustainable energy and environmentally sound development.

CAREC organized five national meetings to raise awareness and implement the Initiative in Astana (2012), Bishkek (2012), Dushanbe (2013), Tashkent (2013) and Ashgabat (2014) in cooperation with the “Covenant of Mayors” project team: Regional Forum in Astana (2013) in cooperation with the EU delegation in Astana; Regional workshop for Central Asian countries in Almaty (2014) and Training on the preparation of sustainable energy action plans (SEAP) for municipalities of Central Asia (2014).

In addition, the project team in cooperation with CAREC organized and conducted three rounds of local consultations in a face-to-face format for signatories to develop SEAP in 2014-2015. In total, more than 200 experts from Central Asia and heads of ministries of energy and local administrations received training and capacity building. Currently, 15 cities in Central Asia have signed and developed 4 sustainable energy action plans (two SEAPs - Somoniyon, Tajikistan and Taraz, Kazakhstan) were approved by the Joint Research Center (OIC) / JRC EC.

During the project implementation period, Kazakhstan became a platform for attracting and testing new methods based on local needs: the so-called local face-to-face consultations were held as part of the Mayors East Agreement project in July 2014. Based on the first success stories, on October 8-9, 2014, a Technical Training was held in Almaty, Kazakhstan, where the signatories of Kazakhstan and Central Asia presented their first steps, discussed with international consultants and colleagues their development process, as well as features and difficulties encountered at the level of development of the city.

The final event is the Covenant of Mayors in Central Asia - the High Level Forum for the signatories of Central Asia, which was attended by "Central Asian local and national authorities on the way to a sustainable energy future-2020", which was held in Almaty on June 26, 2015. 75 participants were involved in this event: akims and representatives of local authorities, managers in the field of sustainable energy, national coordinators and supporters of the Covenant of Mayors from Central Asia, the Ministry of Energy, and the Environment and industry, as well as partners, donors, international organizations and projects, financial institutions (EBRD, World Bank, etc.), the private sector and NGOs, the five Central Asian countries, and more than 20 media representatives.

The forum became an important event, and gave a new impetus to the consideration of the issues of the achievements of the countries of Central Asia and the fulfillment of their obligations under the Covenant of Mayors, the transfer of European experience, presentation of best practices in the field of energy efficiency and sustainable energy, the development and implementation of the SEAP in the signatory cities of the region, as well as the development of multilateral cooperation in this area.

The output of this project for today are 12 signatory cities of "Covenant of Mayors" project in Central Asia: Aksu, Astana, Lisakovsk, Petropavlovsk, Satpayev, Taraz, Zhezkazgan, Temirtau, Karaganda (Kazakhstan), Osh and Talas (Kyrgyzstan) and Somonyjon (Tajikistan) and 3 developed SEAPs for Astana, Taraz and Somonyjon cities. 

In addition, as an output we can present number of events carried out in Central Asia:

•  5 National Awareness Events (Astana, Bishkek - in 2012, Dushanbe and Tashkent - in 2013, Ashgabat - January 29, 2014)

• First Regional Workshop for CA signator cities (Almaty, CAREC, 19-20 February, 2014)

• CA Regional Forum in Astana, June 28, 2013 with the support of the Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Kazakhstan

• Support of participation of the Central Asian countries delegations in the Regional High-Level Forum in Istanbul 14-15.10.13

• CA participants took part in the training sessions and visits to Ukraine and Georgia:

• Tbilisi - March 2013, September 2013, Ukraine - September 2012 and study visit to Ukraine in July 2013

• Technical Training for CA signatory cities of the CoMo in Almaty on 8-9 of October 2014.

Project manager – Tatiana Shakirova

E-mail: tshakirova@carececo.org

Tel.: +7 727 265 43 33 (ext. 120)