Three East European and South Caucasus cities have carried out sustainable energy projects under an EU-sponsored initiative, securing significant carbon savings and funding for future activities.

Icherisheher in Azerbaijan, the Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia and Balti in the Republic of Moldova took part in the ‘Sustainable energy planning for cities: Eastern Europe and South Caucasus’ project, which was coordinated by UNEP and took place between January 2012 and April 2015.

As a result, Vinnytsia has now replaced 363 wooden window frames with double-chamber plastic ones that have energy-efficient coating, in a move expected to bring about net carbon savings equivalent to 63 tons CO₂/year.

Icherisheher also expects to reduce emissions by 271 CO₂/year by replacing inefficient public street lights with 600 LED lamps, thanks to the EU funding.

Meanwhile, in Balti, the external walls of a kindergarten were insulated using special materials including mineral wool based on basalt fibre – expected to save the equivalent of 114.33t CO₂/year.

As part of the project, all three cities had signed up to the Covenant of Mayors, a European movement of local and regional authorities agreeing to reduce their dependency on fossil fuels and curb the impact of climate change on their territory.

Activities were carried out under Sustainable Energy Action Plans that cities draw up as part of the Covenant. Vinnytsia plans to reduce its energy consumption by over 20% a year for example, while Icherisheher aims to promote itself as a car-free town.

The three cities had also first successfully produced Baseline Emission Inventories – generally dating back to 2005 - so that the carbon savings could be accurately measured for the most-polluting sectors of their economies.

Full details on the full sustainable energy planning project can be read in this e-book.

For more information: mark.grassi@unep.org