Last week, the Board of the Covenant of Mayors – Europe (CoM) released an Open Letter calling for post-COVID national and EU-level economic relief investments to be “channelled towards the transformation to a climate neutral society.” They went on to warn that, “otherwise, the consequences of climate change will lead to much more profound and long-term crises.”

The letter proposes a Green Recovery Strategy, which is strategically oriented towards overcoming challenges of societal transformation, with economic relief supporting resilience in the face of future crises. Putting an end to fossil fuel subsidies should be an additional step of the EU and national governments to redirect financial flows towards cities' climate actions.

The CoM Board calls for the crisis not to be misused to delay urgent climate action, but rather to be seized as an opportunity for systemic change. The EU Green Deal should be at the core of recovery, which must be done in strong multi-level cooperation between the EU, national and local governments.

ICLEI Europe is represented in the CoM Board through Martin Horn, Mayor of Freiburg (Germany) and President of ICLEI Europe’s Regional Executive Committee.

ICLEI Europe actively engages in CoM representation and advocacy, and offers strategic and practical support to cities and towns, as well as to other Supporters and Coordinators of the CoM. ICLEI is also part of the Founders Council of the Global Covenant of Mayors, and serves on its subsidiary technical working groups.

Download the full Open Letter from the CoM Board by clicking here.