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Brussels – The EU Covenant of Mayors and Compact of Mayors have joined forces in the fight against climate change and are forming the largest global coalition of cities – including a number of Swiss ones – committed to climate leadership.

The newly formed Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy builds on the climate commitments of more than 7,100 cities from 119 countries and six continents. According to a statement from the European Commission, together they represent more than 600 million inhabitants or over 8 per cent of the world’s population.

“The EU Covenant of Mayors shows that when mayors share a vision of a low-carbon future and roll up their sleeves, things get done,” said European Commission vice-president Maroš Šefčovič. “Never before have so many cities joined forces, eager to inspire each other and committed to collectively taking the path to a low-carbon, resilient society.”

The new initiative will allow for greater collaboration between cities around the world by bridging gaps, building connections and increasing funding to support cities in taking action on sustainable energy and climate change.

The former EU Covenant platform and the platforms supporting the Compact of Mayors will share their data on cities’ energy and climate actions and make them publicly available through a new website to be launched in January 2017. This will make it easier to compare cities’ achievements to other cities and towns around the world.  

The Swiss cities of Basel, Bern, Lausanne, Nyon and Zurich are a part of this new global initiative through their current membership in the Compact of Mayors.