SEAP

Fondazione Cariplo has supported small and medium-sized municipal governments in Lombardy and the provinces of Novara and Verbania signing up to the Covenant of Mayors and pledging to reach the carbon emission targets set forth in their Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP)

The municipal governments were selected among those that applied for a Foundation’s grant under its calls for sustainable energy action held from 2010 through 2012. Specifically, the Foundation’s support was reserved to municipal governments pledging to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at the local level by:

• adhering to the Covenant of Mayors launched by the European Commission;
• preparing a baseline CO₂ emission inventory to track mitigation actions;
• preparing and adopting a Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP);
• putting in place a system for monitoring actions taken and progress towards the targets set forth in the SEAP;
• improving sustainable energy knowledge within the municipal administration;
• raising public awareness of ongoing efforts.

The Covenant of Mayors (Covenant of Mayors) is a European Commission initiative to engage municipal administrations and encourage them to voluntarily commit to climate and energy goals. Signatories to the Covenant commit to submitting Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP) and supporting European Union greenhouse gas emission targets through local policies designed to attain increased energy efficiency, greater use of renewable energy sources, energy savings and rational use of energy. Signatories to the Covenant are required to report on their progress on the implementation of their plan every two years.

The number of municipal governments signing up to the Covenant is steadily growing in Europe, and Italy is the country with the highest number of signatories. The Covenant of Mayors website shows the current number of signatories.

The SEAP database contains all information on the sustainable energy action plans of municipal governments supported by Fondazione Cariplo, including the emission inventory spreadsheets and information on progress made.