NAKHCHIVAN, Azerbaijan, February 13. Interest
in the Covenant of Mayors initiative is growing in Azerbaijan,
Christophe Fréring, team leader of the Covenant of Mayors-Eastern
Partnership (CoM East) initiative, said at an event on the Covenant
of Mayors-Eastern Partnership (CoM East) initiative in Nakhchivan
today, Trend
reports.


He noted that the main goal of the events carried out within the
Covenant of Mayors is to provide cities with the necessary
knowledge to make informed decisions.


"We are seeing an increase in interest from Azerbaijan. Our role
is to provide clear information, practical tools, and real examples
for municipalities to decide whether to join the initiative and how
to do so," the team leader explained.


According to Fréring, there are currently 11 municipalities in
Azerbaijan that have joined the Covenant of Mayors initiative, and
seven of them have already developed an action plan.


"This is a very good indicator. Since the capital city has not
yet joined the initiative, the percentage of the population covered
is relatively low, but this may change in the future.


As a result of the events planned for these 11 cities, it is
expected to reduce 1.3 billion tons of CO₂ emissions. To better
visualize this figure, it can be noted that this impact is
equivalent to planting 1.4 billion trees, removing 20 million cars
from service, and replacing more than one billion light bulbs," he
mentioned.







The team leader noted that the Covenant of Mayors initiative is
a global platform supported by the European Union (EU) and
Bloomberg Philanthropies and today unites more than 12,000 local
governments around the world. "The main members of the Covenant of
Mayors are municipalities. Because energy consumption and savings
occur precisely in cities, towns, and villages. Without
municipalities, the existence of this initiative is impossible," he
said.


Fréring stressed that global climate targets have been raised to
a 55% reduction in emissions by 2030 in line with the EU
strategy.


"In 2025, we also adopted climate neutrality objectives in line
with the EU strategy. For the EU, this target is an 80-95%
reduction by 2050. This is very ambitious, but we are aiming to
achieve a 60% reduction by 2050. So we still have a lot of time to
work together until 2050 arrives," the team leader added.


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