At Invest4Change.org we recently conducted a review of the Compact of Mayors as adopted by Canadian municipalities during 2017. The Compact of Mayors has since evolved and is known as the Global Covenant of Mayors - a flagship global political coalition tackling climate change at the municipal level. Our review summarizes the successes, challenges, lessons learned and recommendations going forward. Here is a summary introducing this study which is a first for Canadian municipalities.

1. Canadian Municipality Experiences
with the Compact of Mayors
May 2018
D. Smeh, A. Shu-Yin, S. Kaharabata, A. Ballez
www.invest4change.org
Introduction
Canadian municipal signatories have been
progressing towards Compact of Mayors
commitments, which they signed onto from
December 2015. Compact of Mayors was
devised to provide a standardized tool for
greenhouse gas (GHG), reporting, target
setting and action planning, as well as
climate adaptation action planning.
Despite its widespread implementation, to
our knowledge there is no assessment of
the implementation of Compact of Mayors at
the national level to date. As such, our team
at Invest4change.org conducted this study
to assess the successes, challenges and
lessons learned to date. Through this
assessment we aim to: assist municipalities
to better understand how to navigate and
successfully complete the Compact of
Mayors’ requirements, inform stakeholders
on how best to support municipalities, and inform the recently formed Global Covenant
of Mayors (GCoM) Secretariat on how to improve implementation based on Canadian
municipal experiences with the Compact of Mayors. Our research into the experiences
of Canadian municipalities with the Compact of Mayors communicates the experiences
of the 18 (of the 22) Canadian municipal signatories. This Introduction is the first of a
series of White Paper Briefs that communicates the findings and recommendations of
our review.
About Compact of Mayors
Developed as a climate planning initiative
launched ahead of COP21 in Paris in
September 2014, the Compact of Mayors
emerged as a flagship global political coalition
tackling climate change at the municipal level.
The initiative offered an integrated, consistent
and public platform to inventory risk and track
progress on climate change targets and goals
for 2030.
• Phase 1 Register Commitment
• Phase 2 Conduct GHG Inventory and
Identify Climate Hazards
• Phase 3 Create GHG Reduction Targets
and Conduct a Climate Change
Vulnerability Assessment
• Phase 4 Establish an Action Plan
What are early
lessons learned
that Canadian
municipalities
can share?
What successes
can be
recognized as
good practice?
How did
municipalities
address
challenges?
How can the
design and
implementation
of Compact of
Mayors be
improved?
What insights
can assist
municipalities
who are
planning to sign
on?