The European Green Deal is one of the priorities of the European Commission and strives to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent. The recent policy revisions under the Fit for 55 legislative package make this priority operational, while the EU is also putting efforts into addressing the challenges derived from recent geopolitical developments—such as the security in the energy supply and the affordability of the energy prices—through the RePOWER EU package, launched last year.
European Cities and Regions play a key role in contributing to these efforts, as essential actors in the clean energy and carbon neutrality transitions. It is thus of crucial importance to empower them, by accelerating investments in energy and climate adaptation, building capacity and skills, and equipping them with the necessary elements in order to face the impacts of climate change.
The Covenant of Mayors Investment Forum - Energy Efficiency Finance Market Place (COMIF-EEFMP) is an annual conference that has been organised since 2018 by European Commission’s Directorate General for Energy, the Directorate-General for Climate Action and the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA), in collaboration with the Covenant of Mayors initiative. The success of the COMIF-EEFMP event—and its uniqueness—stems from the showcasing of successful initiatives to finance sustainable energy and climate adaptation, presented by practitioners to practitioners in a line-up of parallel break-out sessions. Networking is key to the event, allowing participants to deepen their learning experience and arrange for actionable follow-up.
This year's edition will showcase successful projects funded under the LIFE Clean Energy Transition and the Horizon 2020 programmes—in particular the H2020 Energy Efficiency subprogramme. It will also highlight projects funded under EIB ELENA, LIFE Climate programme and initiatives such as the Smart Cities Marketplace.
The last edition of the COMIF-EEFMP took place in October 2022, attracting more than 400 participants—around 250 attending on-site. This year the event will take place on October 25th 2023 in Brussels in a physical format, in order to reinforce and encourage a strong networking connection among the conference’s audience.
The 2023 edition will build on the successful previous editions and will include plenary sessions with high-level representatives from the European Commission, cities, and investment community. Projects will present their successful and pioneering initiatives, for example, in encouraging change at local level, financing energy efficiency in the public and private sector, and boosting home renovations and energy communities.
The one-day event will furthermore present networking facilities with institutional stands and much more.
