Published: 22.9.2014 // Source: EU Neighbourhood Info Center
The European Commission has published a guidebook on ‘How to develop a Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP) in South Mediterranean Cities’. The purpose of this guidebook is to make energy efficiency and climate change mitigation measures relevant, achievable and compelling to local authorities in the southern Mediterranean context.
The guidebook is adapted to the South Mediterranean context from the Joint Research Centre’s (JRC) guidebook “How to develop a Sustainable Energy Action Plan”, developed in 2010 to support the implementation of the Covenant of Mayors (CoM) initiative in European cities. Through the project ‘Cleaner Energy Saving Cities in the Mediterranean’ (CES-MED), the European Union has opened the CoM initiative to local authorities of ten southern Mediterranean countries (Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Syria and Tunisia).
Ultimately, this publication aims to enhance the competitiveness of municipalities and ensure their economic development while reducing dependence on energy imports and fossil fuels through the implementation of energy efficiency, renewable energy and other well-planned climate change mitigation actions at the local level.
The guidebook provides detailed, step-by-step guidance to local authorities in southern Mediterranean countries to develop an effective Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP). The process has four phases: initiation, planning, implementation, and monitoring and reporting. The choice and sequence of actions can vary according to the policies and measures already in place. This flexibility allows local authorities to develop a SEAP coherent with and effective for their local circumstances and objectives.
The Guidebook – in English, Arabic, or French – can be found here: http://iet.jrc.ec.europa.eu/energyefficiency/publication/guidebook-how-develop-seap-south-mediterranean-cities