The Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy (GCoM) is the largest global alliance for city climate leadership, built upon the commitment of over 11,500 cities and local governments to tackle the challenges of climate change.

The GCoM gathers cities and local governments of all sizes in all parts of the world, mobilizing and supporting cities’ ambitious, measurable, planned climate and energy action in their communities. The GCoM works with city/regional networks, national governments and other partners to achieve its shared vision. The core principles of the Global Covenant of Mayors include:

• Local Governments are Key Contributors: The Global Covenant of Mayors works to organize and mobilize cities and local governments to be active contributors to a global climate solution.
• City Networks as Critical Partners: Local, regional and global city networks are core partners, serving as the primary support for participating cities and local governments.
• A Robust Solution Agenda: Focusing on those sectors where cities and local governments have the greatest impact, the Global Covenant of Mayors supports ambitious, locally relevant solutions, captured through climate action plans  (including mitigation, sustainable energy and adaptation measures) that are registered, implemented, monitored and publicly available.
• Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Fostering Local Climate Resilience: The Global Covenant of Mayors emphasizes the importance of climate change mitigation and adaptation to a changing climate, as well as increased access to sustainable energy.

The GCoM is based on three pillars: 

• Climate change mitigation (reduction of greenhouse gas emissions)
• Adaptation to climate change impacts
• Access to clean and affordable energy

It also follows different steps, from assessing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and identifying climate risks and vulnerabilities, setting and meeting mitigation targets and climate change adaptation goals for the whole community, to developing local climate action plans implementing mitigation, sustainable energy and adaptation measures.