UN Special Envoy Michael R. Bloomberg’s Letter to Compact of Mayors Cities

Dear Compact of Mayors Cities,

As a Compact-committed city, you know firsthand the importance of greater collaboration between cities and towns across the world and the role cooperation plays in bridging gaps, building connections and increasing funding to support and empower urban centers. That’s why I’m thrilled to write to you today to share some exciting news about the future of the partnership between the Compact of Mayors and the Covenant of Mayors.

Building on the formal partnership announced with European Commissioner Pierre Moscovici during the Paris COP21, I am pleased to announce that the Compact of Mayors and the Covenant of Mayors are formally merging efforts to establish a single initiative, “The Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy” which will officially launch on January 1, 2017.

From its historic launch during the UN Climate Summit in 2014 through a first of its kind partnership between global city networks, namely C40, ICLEI, and UCLG, and with the strong support of the UN Secretary General and UN Habitat, the Compact of Mayors has grown to support 512 commitments from cities around the world representing more than 433 million people or nearly 6% of the total global population, while the Covenant of Mayors, originally a European initiative, has more than 7,100 signatories, representing more than 211 million people. The two organizations are remarkably aligned and both the Compact and Covenant have helped galvanize cities and local governments in setting more ambitious climate reduction goals, taking aggressive action to meet those objectives, and measuring their progress.

This historic merger will build on the progress we’ve made so far and will harness the convening and investment powers of the European Union, allowing for expanded reach and access. The unified initiative will reach more cities, streamlining our outreach and technical assistance efforts, broadening the footprint of support and accelerating impact. Our merged initiative will also simplify your engagement as the joint initiative will create a central platform that brings data reported through the Compact and Covenant’s individual platforms into one single database.

Cities played an especially important and critical role at the COP21 in Paris and without leadership like yours, through both your individual contributions as well as your engagement with leading global city networks, we would not be where we are today. I am truly excited about this merger and believe it will send a strong signal to the international community that cities continue to lead when it comes to climate change. In the coming weeks, my team working with Compact of Mayors partner networks will be reaching out to explain in more detail how our newly merged initiative will help streamline your efforts and facilitate your participation in this critical initiative.

Thank you for your commitment to global sustainability, and I look forward to continuing TO work with you in the fight against climate change.

Sincerely,

Michael R. Bloomberg

UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change

For more information on merger between the Compact of Mayors and Covenant of Mayors please visit: www.globalcovenantofmayors.org

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