Our Summit

President Biden is not the only one who convened climate leaders this week, Energy Cities did too.

I would dare to say, we brought together the real leaders, the ones who act on a daily basis: Mayors and local council’s teams. They are aware and firmly believe it is their duty to manage the pandemic crisis hitting their cities’ health and social services, but also to build new places to live, together with citizens.

Yesterday was a big day for the Covenant of Mayors’ community. They launched a new phase, with more ambitious commitments, aligned with the EU climate Law agreed the day before. We only have one possible horizon: climate neutrality by 2050. Each territory will embrace this collective challenge in a different way, by taking into account local strengths and weaknesses.

To take stock of the current challenges and prepare for the post 2020 era, Energy Cities adopted a new agenda. Our mission remains the same, we aim at empowering local actors to transform cities into futureproofed places. However, in order to do that, we need to deepen our knowledge of the potential resources currently wasted, the new ways of producing locally, the new links between policies, sectors…this is precisely why we have widened our focus, moving from an energy perspective to a system thinking approach.

Listening to Sandrine Dixson, Co-chair of the Club of Rome, during our high-level debate session, reinforced our convictions that we are at the convergence of many tipping points, and that everyone understands that we need to act now –  only national, EU, and global leaders are not ready! That is why she prompted us to be even more vocal. Energy Cities’ members are grateful for her encouragement. They are struggling everywhere to  change the business as usual, ambitious and tireless in their commitments. They belong to a very special community of dedicated local leaders, not often in the spotlights, but consistently transforming our world, building trust, day after day, as real leaders do.

Dear Members of Energy Cities, thank you. Each time we meet, you give us the strength to carry on and remind us how meaningful our collective work is! In these lockdown times, such moments, even if virtual, are precious.

We will come back to you very soon with practical information on how to get involved in the new activities we’ve announced, but also our new tools to foster participation, briefings, and more!