Chisinau joins Covenant of Mayors

Mayor General of Chisinau Dorin Chirtoaca signed in Brussels a document on the adhesion by Chisinau to the Covenant of Mayors, Info-Prim Neo reports, quoting a communiqué from the City Hall. “Signatories of the Covenant of Mayors voluntarily commit to increasing energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy sources on their territories. By their commitment, they support the European Union 20% CO2 reduction objective to be reached by 2020,” says the communiqué. Signatories undertake to submit a Sustainable Energy Action Plan within the year following the official adhesion to the Covenant of Mayors initiative and to prepare a Baseline Emission Inventory. Local authorities are in a position to change citizens' behavior and address climate and energy questions in a comprehensive manner, notably by conciliating public and private interests and by integrating sustainable energy issues into overall local development goals. The Covenant of Mayors is a European cooperation movement involving local and regional authorities. After the European Union climate and energy package was adopted in 2008, the European Commission launched the Covenant of Mayors to endorse and support the efforts deployed by local authorities in the implementation of sustainable energy policies Cities from 38 countries signed up as Covenant of Mayors Signatories.