The European Union faces energy challenges relating to energy security, sustainability and greenhouse gas emissions. The EU has committed itself to the "20-20-20" initiative: reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 20%, increasing the share of renewables in energy consumption to 20% and improving energy efficiency by 20%, all by 2020. Local councils have indeed a very important role to play in this, and it is important to note that there are various EU initiatives to assist local councils to achieve these objectives.

End of March/beginning of April 2009 the next call for proposals of the Intelligent Energy Europe Programme (IEE) is expected to be launched. The aim of this programme is to contribute to secure, sustainable and competitively priced energy for Europe, by providing for action:

• to foster energy efficiency and the rational use of energy resources;
• to promote new and renewable energy sources and to support energy diversification; and
• to promote energy efficiency and the use of new and renewable energy sources in transport.

In this light, the Malta National Contact Point for the Competitiveness and Innovation Programme (CIP Malta NCP), the Malta Intelligent Energy Management Agency (MIEMA), the Malta-EU Steering & Action Committee (MEUSAC) and Assocjazzjoni Segretarji Ezekuttivi Kunsilli Lokali Malta (ASKLM) organised a joint information session to create awareness of the various energy related funding opportunities that exist for local councils, within and beyond the IEE programme. This event also aimed to disseminate information about another recent EU supported initiative - the ‘Covenant of Mayors’. The Covenant of Mayors seeks to bring together European towns and cities in a permanent network to exchange and apply good practices to improve energy efficiency in the urban environment. The Covenant consists of the formal commitment of the adhering cities and municipalities to go beyond EU objectives in terms of reducing their CO2 emissions through energy efficiency and renewable energy actions.

The aim of this joint information session was to provide a forum for debate and experience sharing and to outline various avenues that could be considered to pursue by local councils regarding energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. It also served as a meeting platform to establish direct communication channels and set the base for further collaborations and joint projects between local councils.

The information session was addressed by the Hon. Dr Chris Said, Parliamentary Secretary for Public Dialogue and Information.