VITEBSK, 18 January (BelTA) – An international kick-off conference of the EU project “SURE: Sustainable Urban Energy in the Region of the European Neighborhood Partnership Instrument – towards the Covenant of Mayors” will take place in Polotsk on 18-19 January, BelTA learnt from the Polotsk City Hall.
The project is a part of the EU program “CIUDAD: Cooperation in Urban Development and Dialogue” and unites six partners from five countries: Germany, Spain, Belarus, Morocco and France.
The budget of the 2.5-year project is nearly ?620,000. The leading partner of the project is Freidrichshafen, the German twin-town of Polotsk. The new initiative will contribute to sustainable energy development of Polotsk and Sale (Morocco) with their further joining of the Covenant of Mayors. The Covenant of Mayors commits its member states to curb their CO2 emissions by at least 20% by 2020. Signatories of the Covenant of Mayors contribute to these policy objectives through a formal commitment to go beyond this target through the implementation of their Sustainable Energy Action Plan. So far the heads of 2181 European countries and EU neighbors have signed the Covenant. Polotsk will become its first participant from Belarus.
Attending the conference will be regional and local authorities of Belarus, Morocco, Germany and Spain, ministries and departments, a delegation of the European Commission to Belarus as well as institutions, organizations and energy experts. A roundtable during the conference will focus on the Polotsk Sustainable Energy Action Plan. The experts of Murcia, Spain, one of the partners of the project, are going to share their experience with Belarusian participants of the conference. A presentation of the SURE project will take place at the conference.
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