The European Commission

Directorate-General for Climate Action, DG CLIMA
DG CLIMA leads the European Commission’s efforts to fight climate change at EU and international level.
Directorate-General for Energy, DG ENER
DG ENER department is responsible for the EU’s energy policy for a secure, sustainable, and competitively priced energy for Europe.
Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations, DG NEAR
DG NEAR mission is to take forward the EU’s neighbourhood and enlargement policies, as well as coordinating relations with EEA-EFTA countries insofar as Commission policies are concerned.
Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development, DG DEVCO
DG DEVCO is responsible for designing European international cooperation and development policy and delivering aid throughout the world.

The European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP)

The European Union’s European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) aims at bringing the EU and its neighbours closer, to their mutual benefit and interest.

The European Neighbourhood Policy governs the EU’s relations with 16 of the its closest Eastern and Southern Neighbours. To the South: Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine*, Syria** and Tunisia, and to the East: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine (Russia takes part in Cross-Border Cooperation activities under the ENP but is not part of the ENP as such).

Focus on stabilisation
At the heart of the EU’s neighbourhood policy lies the stabilisation of the region, in political, socio-economic and security-related terms. The EU is committed to supporting the economic development of its partner countries, and to improve the aspirations, hopes and prospects of the local population, while keeping a strong focus on good governance, democracy and the rule of law.

A tailored and flexible partnership
Two key principles of the European Neighbourhood Policy are differentiation and ownership. This approach recognises the different aspirations of the partner countries in developing their relations with the EU. The EU and the countries set the partnership priorities together, focusing each relationship on shared interests.

Sectors
The policy proposes four priority areas: good governance, aiming a fostering a just, inclusive and stable society with maximal respect for human rights and space for civil society; economic and social development, including the creation of job opportunities for youth, as key measures for economic stabilisation in the region; cooperation in the security sector, mainly in the areas of conflict-prevention, counter-terrorism and anti-radicalisation policies; migration and mobility, which tackles mobility on the one hand, and irregular migration, human trafficking and smuggling on the other. Finally, attention is also paid to energy security and climate action.

Funding
Funding for the European Neighbourhood Policy comes from the European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI), with an allocation of over €15 billion from 2014-2020.
The bulk of funding is used for bilateral cooperation, tailor-made on the needs of each partner country, and based on agreed partnership priorities or association agendas, which provide the framework for political engagement and cooperation.

Regional engagement
The European Neighbourhood Policy supports regional cooperation initiatives: The Eastern Partnership (EaP), The Union for Mediterranean (UfM) and the Cross Border Cooperation (CBC).

* This designation shall not be construed as recognition of a State of Palestine and is without prejudice to the individual positions of the Member States on this issue.
**The EU suspended all its bilateral cooperation with the Government of Syria and its participation in regional programmes in 2011.

Visit the ENP Website

JRC

As the European Commission’s science and knowledge service, the Joint Research Centre (JRC) supports the European union’s (EU) policies with independent scientific evidence throughout the whole policy cycle. The JRC creates, manages and makes sense of knowledge and develops innovative tools on the disposal of policy makers.

The Centre collaborates with over a thousand organisations worldwide whose scientists have access to many JRC facilities through various collaboration agreements. JRC’s work has a direct impact on the lives of citizens by contributing with its research outcomes to a healthy and safe environment, climate change, secure energy supplies, sustainable mobility and consumer health and safety.

The JRC has six sites in five EU countries (Brussels, Geel, Ispra, Karlsruhe, Petten, Seville).

Visit the JRC Website

UfM

The Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) is an intergovernmental Euro-Mediterranean organization, which brings together all 28 countries of the European Union and 15 countries of the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean. UfM’s mission is to enhance regional cooperation, dialogue and the implementation of projects and initiatives with tangible impact on our citizens, with an emphasis on young people and women, in order to address the three strategic objectives of the region: stability, human development and integration.
Because of its geographical composition, institutional governance and working methodology, the UfM is taking into account the priorities of both the EU – as reflected in the reviewed ENP and the Global Strategy on Foreign and Security Policy – and the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean countries.

Visit the UfM website

Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy

The Covenant of Mayors is the world’s largest movement for local climate and energy actions. The EU Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy brings together thousands of local governments voluntarily committed to implementing EU climate and energy objectives. The Covenant of Mayors was launched in 2008 in Europe with the ambition to gather local governments voluntarily committed to achieving and exceeding the EU climate and energy targets.

The initiative now gathers 7,700+ local and regional authorities across 57 countries drawing on the strengths of a worldwide multi-stakeholder movement and the technical and methodological support offered by dedicated offices. Signatory cities pledge action to support implementation of the EU 40% greenhouse gas-reduction target by 2030 and the adoption of a joint approach to tackling mitigation and adaptation to climate change.

In order to translate their political commitment into practical measures and projects, Covenant signatories commit to submitting, within two years following the date of the local council decision, a Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan (SECAP) outlining the key actions they plan to undertake.

Visit the CoM Website

Global Covenant of Mayors

The Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy is an international alliance of cities and local governments with a shared long-term vision of promoting and supporting voluntary action to combat climate change and move to a low emission, resilient society.

The Global Covenant of Mayors works to organize and mobilize cities and local governments to be active contributors to a global climate solution.

Local, regional and global city networks are core partners of GCoM, serving as the primary support for participating cities and local governments.

Focusing on those sectors where cities have the greatest impact, the Global Covenant of Mayors supports ambitious, locally relevant solutions, captured through strategic action plans that are registered, implemented and monitored and publicly available.

The Global Covenant of Mayors emphasizes the importance of climate change mitigation and adaptation, as well as increased access to clean and affordable energy.

Visit the GCoM Website

The Covenant of Mayors in Sub-Saharan Africa – CoM SSA

The Covenant of Mayors in Sub-Saharan Africa (CoM SSA) is an initiative founded by European Union (EU) to support Sub-Saharan Africa cities in their fight against climate change through a voluntary commitment. It is a bottom-up initiative and a voluntary that allows cities to define and meet ambitious and realistic targets set by themselves in line with the covenant methodology. CoM SSA is opened to any cities in Sub-Saharan Africa regardless of size.

Visit the CoM SSA Website

United Cities and Local Governments

United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) represents and defends the interests of local governments on the world stage, regardless of the size of the communities they serve. The organisation’s stated mission is: “To be the united voice and world advocate of democratic local self-government, promoting its values, objectives and interests, through cooperation between local governments, and within the wider international community”.

UCLG’s work programme focuses on increasing the role and influence of local government and its representative organisations in global governance; Becoming the main source of support for democratic, effective, innovative local government close to the citizen; Ensuring an effective and democratic global organisation.

United Cities and Local Governments supports international cooperation between cities and their associations, and facilitates programmes, networks and partnerships to build the capacities of local governments. The organization promotes the role of women in local decision-making and is a gateway to relevant information on local government across the world.

Visit the UCLG Website

EIB

The European Investment Bank is the lending arm of the European Union. It is the world’s largest multilateral lender and the biggest provider of climate finance. The EIB Group has two parts: the European Investment Bank and the European Investment Fund and has more than 60 years’ experience and expertise in project financing.

The European Investment Bank focuses on four areas: Innovation and skills, Small businesses, Infrastructure and Climate and environment. All the projects the Bank finances must be bankable. But they also must comply with high technical, environmental and social standards. The combined expertise of its economists, engineers, financial analysts and climate specialists ensures the success of its projects.

The EIB response to today’s priorities goes beyond the EU borders. The EIB’s Economic Resilience Initiative increases financing in the Southern Neighbourhood and the Western Balkans, also in the context of the migration challenge.

As the EU bank, it has made climate action one of its top priorities and today it is the largest multilateral provider of climate finance worldwide. It commits to climate change adaptation and mitigation more than 25% of the Bank total financing. For investments in developing countries, this figure will rise to 35% by 2020. The EIB is providing USD 100bn of climate-related projects in the five years from 2016 to 2020, as it helps turn the COP21 ambitious Paris agreement into reality.

Visit the EIB Website

The World Bank

The World Bank is a vital source of financial and technical assistance to developing countries around the world. It is not a bank in the ordinary sense but a unique partnership to reduce poverty and support development.

With 189 member countries and offices in over 130 locations, the World Bank Group is a unique global partnership: five institutions working for sustainable solutions that reduce poverty and build shared prosperity in developing countries: The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), The International Development Association (IDA), The International Finance Corporation (IFC), The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) and The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).

The World Bank provides low-interest loans, zero to low-interest credits, and grants to developing countries. These support a wide array of investments in such areas as education, health, public administration, infrastructure, financial and private sector development, agriculture, and environmental and natural resource management. Some of the projects are cofinanced with governments, other multilateral institutions, commercial banks, export credit agencies, and private sector investors.

Visit the World Bank Website

AFD

The Agence Française de Développement (AFD) funds, supports and accelerates the transitions to a fairer and more sustainable world and commits financing and technical assistance to projects that genuinely improve everyday life, both in developing and emerging countries and in the French overseas provinces.

In keeping with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, AFD works in many sectors — energy, healthcare, biodiversity, water, digital technology, professional training, among others — to assist with transitions towards a safer, more equitable, and more sustainable world : a world in common.
Through a network of 85 field offices, it currently finances, monitors, and assists more than 2,500 development projects in 108 countries.

The AFD strategy rests on a vision of “world in common” and five foundational commitments that underpin all actions: 100% Paris Agreement, 100% social link, 3D development thinking, non-sovereign first and partnership design.

For them, supporting sustainable projects with strong impacts for populations involves submitting results to the judgments and opinions of all stakeholders. Informing, conducting dialogue and providing responses are consequently among the pillars of the Group’s Corporate Social Responsibility.

Visit the AFD Website