Voluntary instruments for ambitious objectives? The experience of the EU Covenant of Mayors

Abstract

The core themes and research questions of this volume, centred on the nature of environmental policy change in the European Union (EU), are laid out. An original heuristic framework to capture different dimensions, mechanisms and processes of policy change is presented. In order to contextualise the current situation, where EU policy scope has reached maturity and faces an uncertain future trajectory, EU environmental politics is divided into particular eras, looking closely at the nature of change in each period. This volume interrogates the extent to which change has occurred, the conditions or context within which it did/did not take place and the implications arising from stasis or change. The contributions to the volume are introduced and placed into the context of the broader trajectory of EU environmental policy.

Policy and political consequences of mandatory climate impact assessments: an explorative study of German cities and municipalities

“…Third, our findings complement the literature on the role of cities and municipalities in governing climate change beyond their participation in transnational city networks such as the European Union (EU) Covenant of Mayors (e.g. Domorenok, 2019).…”

European Strategies for Adaptation to Climate Change with the Mayors Adapt Initiative by Self-Organizing Maps

“…Among these studies, we can observe those that make comparisons between multiple territories, such as, for example, the comparison of the reduction of emissions by saving energy in buildings of 4741 participants in the CoM [59], the influence of such savings on the air quality of 146 cities [60], the analysis of emission reduction strategies of 124 cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants [61], the evaluation of the advantages and motivations of an energy approach analyzing 41 municipalities [62] or the general vision of the methodologies applied [4]. Among the studies focused on specific territories, we can find works in France [63], in Denmark [64] and evaluations of the effectiveness of the SEAPs in Genoa in Italy [65], a work that evidences the type of measures implemented in Portugal [66], or studies that compare the implementation of CoMs in Italy and the United Kingdom, both with a qualitative and qualitative approach [67]. Other studies have investigated the motivations that lead governments to join city networks in the face of climate change [66,[68][69][70][71][72], the evaluation of involvement and participation through indicators [36,39], the creation of indicators for evaluating SEAPs based on energy efficiency [73] or the identification of good practices and guidelines to increase municipalities' own participation [4].…”

“…In any case, it should be remembered that CoM initiatives and therefore the MA have been useful in fostering coordination and increasing mutual trust among their participants [67], getting cities involved, making them a medium and target for climate actions [42], and allowing mayors to influence climate change initiatives [103].…”

Decomposition Analysis of the Evolution of the Local Energy System as a Tool to Assess the Effect of Local Actions: Methodology and Example of Malmö, Sweden

“…The recognition of local actions' contribution towards climate change mitigation has been accompanied by an increasingly active role of local actors-including local authorities as well as other local stakeholders, such as local businesses, municipal utilities, citizens associations and individual citizens [3]. For instance, more than 10,000 European municipalities have committed to reduce their GHG emissions level by at least 20%, becoming signatories of the Covenant of Mayors initiative [4,5]. There are also several initiatives promoted at national and EU level with the objective of levering sustainable energy planning and climate change mitigation at the local level, such as the European Energy Award, CIVITAS, Managenergy and others.…”