The Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy (GCoM) was formed in June 2016 when the world’s two largest initiatives focused on municipal-led climate action — the Compact of Mayors and the EU Covenant of Mayors — merged to form one united initiative working towards a resilient and low-emission society. Since then, “regional covenants” have taken shape in different parts of the world to provide context-specific support to local governments that wish to join this rapidly expanding global network of 9,200+ cities that are committed to voluntary climate action.
Since June 2017, FCM has been working closely with GCoM to define how to deliver GCoM’s activities in Canada.
FCM is the national lead for GCoM activities in Canada
FCM, in partnership with ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI Canada), will deliver GCoM Canada activities on municipal climate action across the country.
Canadian members of the former Compact of Mayors are automatically members of the Global Covenant of Mayors in Canada; no further action is required in the near term.
Quick facts
- The Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy (GCoM) is the largest global alliance for climate leadership, uniting a global coalition of over 9,200 cities and local governments. The cities and partners of the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy share a long-term vision of supporting voluntary action to combat climate change and towards a resilient and low-emission society. GCoM serves cities and local governments by mobilizing and supporting ambitious, measurable, planned climate and energy action in their communities by working with city/regional networks, national governments and other partners to achieve our vision. Led by UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Climate Action, Michael R. Bloomberg, and European Commission Vice President, Maroš Šefčovič, the coalition comprises cities across 6 continents and 132 countries, representing over 800 million people or more than 10% of the global population.
- By 2030, GCoM cities and local governments could collectively reduce 1.3 billion tons of CO2 emissions per year. That’s the equivalent of taking 276 million cars off the road.
- The Municipalities for Climate Innovation Program (MCIP) helps municipalities and partner organizations by providing funding, training and information sharing. It is designed to encourage Canadian municipalities to better prepare for and adapt to the new realities of climate change as well as reduce greenhouse gas emissions. MCIP is a five-year $75-million program, delivered by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and funded by the Government of Canada.
- The Partners for Climate Protection (PCP) program is a network of over 350 Canadian municipalities committed to taking action on climate change. The program helps local governments reduce greenhouse gas emissions and make a difference in protecting our climate. PCP is a partnership between the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) and ICLEI—Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI Canada).
- Building Adaptive and Resilience Communities (BARC) is a national program for municipalities to prepare for the impacts of a changing climate. Over 60 municipalities are using the BARC milestone-based planning framework in their communities to assess vulnerability and risk and develop and implement collaborative, co-produced adaptation plans. BARC is run by ICLEI Canada and implemented through more than 250 local partners.
- Support for this collaboration is provided through the International Urban Cooperation Project of the European Commission.