On 16 October, Brussels hosted the annual ceremony of the Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy, the leading European initiative promoting climate and energy action at local level. Coinciding with the 10th anniversary of the Paris Agreement, the event was attended by high-level representatives such as Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission.

Representatives from several Basque institutions were present at the event.

The event highlighted the essential role of local governments in Europe's energy and climate transition, as demonstrated by the representation of subnational governments, including Basque institutions, as a region committed to this area. Specifically, the meeting was attended by Eric Gálvez, Mayor of Legazpi; Aitor Zulueta, director of the Centre for Environmental Studies, and María Fernández, head of Sustainability, Climate and Energy at Vitoria-Gasteiz City Council; Joserra López and Alana Rawlins from the Basque Energy Agency; Izaskun de Allende from the public company Ihobe; and representatives from the Basque Country Delegation in Brussels.

Their presence reflected the commitment of Basque institutions to local and European climate action; in fact, the Basque Country aims to have 100 municipalities sign up to the Covenant by 2028. In the Basque Country, the support structures for the Covenant of Mayors are EVE and Ihobe, within the framework of Udalsarea 2030.

Currently, 30 Basque municipalities have joined the Covenant, although this figure will increase in the coming weeks to around 50, as several local councils are in the process of formally approving their participation in the initiative.

The Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy is in line with current legislation (Law 1/2024 and Law 4/2019), which establishes obligations for local governments in the areas of climate change adaptation and energy transition.

The Covenant seeks to ensure that local governments embrace European objectives about mitigation and adaptation and that, in turn, regulations in the Basque Country are aligned with these objectives (55% reduction in emissions by 2030 compared to 1990 and climate neutrality by 2050).

For its part, the LIFE Octopus project, in which the Basque Country participates, aims to strengthen local governments' climate and energy action through Enabling Organisational Networks. In the Basque Country, this work is channelled through Udalsarea 2030 and is deployed through various instruments, including the Covenant of Mayors.

Local representatives attending the event conveyed their main demands to the European Commission.

Local representatives attending the event conveyed their main demands to the European Commission: greater participation in the development of EU policies, direct and simplified access to funding, technical support and reliable climate data for local planning, integration of nature into urban design, and territorial coherence and equality in policy implementation.

For its part, the European Commission announced new instruments to strengthen the role of municipalities: a new Agenda for European Union Cities, planned for the end of 2025; an EU Climate Resilience Plan, currently being designed for 2025-2026; and the inclusion of the principle of resilience by design in the next Multiannual Financial Framework 2028-2034.