Energy Poverty

The commitment of European signatories defines the vision that by 2050, we will all be living in decarbonised and resilient cities with access to affordable, secure and sustainable energy. As part of the Covenant of Mayors - Europe movement, signatories commit to tackling energy poverty as one key action to ensure a just transition.

Energy poverty is one of the three pillars of the Covenant of Mayors – Europe, alongside mitigation and adaptation. Thus, energy poverty is an integral part of the planning and monitoring efforts of Covenant signatories. The energy poverty section of the Covenant’s reporting and monitoring framework was launched in May 2022 (see webinar and related presentation). The reporting guidelines on energy poverty provide step-by-step guidance on how to report on energy poverty in MyCovenant.

Support on energy poverty

The Energy Poverty Advisory Hub (EPAH) is the leading EU initiative aiming to eradicate energy poverty and accelerate the just energy transition of European local governments.

Its mission is to be the centre of energy poverty expertise in Europe for local governments and all stakeholders interested in taking action to combat energy poverty in Europe. To achieve that, EPAH offers a central platform of energy poverty expertise in Europe for local government and all stakeholders interested in taking action to combat energy poverty in Europe.

Through EPAH, local governments can:

GET INSPIRED AND LEARN ABOUT LOCAL ACTIVITIES

	The EPAH ATLAS is an online interactive database to discover local projects and measures addressing energy poverty across the world. You can submit your own project too.
	Inspiring cases from across Europe - available in 24 languages, displays a series of 24 inspirational cases of how energy poverty can be alleviated at the local level.
	The awarded applicants of the: call for technical assistance showcase what municipalities are actively working on now.

RECEIVE SUPPORT TO INITIATE THEIR OWN LOCAL APPROACH

	EPAH Handbook: A Guide to Understanding and Addressing Energy Poverty presents the concept of energy poverty with the different approaches that can be useful for obtaining a general picture of energy poverty in your local government as well as the initial introduction to the methodology to tackle energy poverty.
	EPAH Handbook 2: A Guide to Planning Energy Poverty Mitigation Actions presents different practical steps to identify the most feasible and impactful actions to prioritise at the local level.
	EPAH Handbook 1: A Guide to Energy Poverty Diagnosis focuses on the seven concrete steps in the diagnosis phase, providing a detailed description of each step. The handbook helps municipalities address the questions: Is there energy poverty in the municipality? Where is it concentrated? What is the severity of the situation? Who are those most affected? What are the most significant determining factors? What perception do the agents involved have of this problem?
	EPAH Online courses are free and open to anyone interested in enhancing skills and competences to develop their own approach to combat energy poverty.
	EPAH Helpdesk is available to assist local authorities with their energy poverty questions at info@energypoverty.eu.

LEARN ABOUT ENERGY POVERTY AND MITIGATION

	Indicators are key instruments to measure energy poverty. The dashboard of national indicators, the full insight report and a short description for each indicator offers the most practical and complete visualisation possible of different quantifiable aspects of energy poverty levels across Europe using the most recent EU wide statistics.
	Take a look at all the publications on energy poverty.

FOSTER GREATER COLLABORATION AND KNOWLEDGE SHARING

	ATLAS database. This ATLAS, featuring over 250 projects, measures, and policies from around the world has new entries but you can also submit and edit your own contributions to enrich this valuable resource.
	Publications database. Access a wide range of publications and reports related to energy poverty, facilitating knowledge-sharing and research. You are now able to fill in the submission form and contribute directly to the database.
	Organisations. A comprehensive list of organiations actively involved in addressing energy poverty is available. At each organisation page you can find links of the ATLAS cases that they are involved in. In this case, you can submit new organisations by filling the submission form.
	Events calendar. You can now submit an event directly to the EPAH calendar.
	Courses list: Submit online and onsite courses to our list of courses relevant to all practitioners.

JOIN THE NETWORK AND EXCHANGE WITH LIKEMINDED STAKEHOLDERS

	Take a look at the EPAH calendar for upcoming national and international events to get in touch with an international and local network of stakeholders working on energy poverty.
	Attend one of the EPAH lunch talks to discuss with peers about the different challenges of tackling energy poverty.