Representatives of Polish pioneer municipalities – Bielsko-Biała, Kościerzyna, Kozy and Szczyrk – took part in 3rd Covenant of Mayors Signature Ceremony which was organised in Brussels on 29th of November 2011.
The Covenant of Mayors is an ambitious initiative of the European Commission which engages European cities and municipalities in activities for climate protection. Covenant signatories commit to go beyond objectives of the EU climate & energy policy set for 2020 by reducing CO2 emissions in their respective territories by at least 20%.
Local authorities can sign the Covenant of Mayors at any time. However, once a year, there is a special Covenant Signature Ceremony, which gives the mayors an opportunity to gain visibility and symbolically sign the Covenant in front of wide audience, including representatives of European institutions and local and regional authorities from all over the Europe. This year the Ceremony was held for the third time.
3rd Covenant of Mayors Signature Ceremony gathered over 1 000 representatives of local and regional authorities, including 364 mayors. Official opening of the event was performer by Jerzy Buzek, President of the European Parliament, Mercedes Bresso, President of the Committee of the Regions and Philip Lowe, Director General for Energy.
After the official opening two thematic session took place, during which participants of the ceremony discussed the role of municipalities in implementation of EU climate & energy policy. At the end, 260 new signatories of the Covenant of Mayors were invited on the stage to symbolically sign the Covenant of Mayors again. Among them were: Zdzisław Czucha, Mayor of Kościerzyna, Wojciech Bydliński, Mayor of Szczyrk and Kazimierz Greń, Deputy Mayor of Kozy. They were supported by Zbigniew Michniowski, Deputy Mayor of Bielsko-Biała, which was one of the first Polish CoM signatories, and Anna Jaskuła, Deputy Director of the Association of Municipalities Polish Network “Energie Cités”, which was first Polish organization that became Covenant Supporter.
