SECAP (Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan)

A Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan (SECAP) is the planning document prepared by local governments that have signed up to the Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy. In it, each municipality sets out how it will cut its emissions, how it will adapt to climate impacts and how it will improve access to sustainable energy, on a horizon aligned with European targets. It is the tool that turns the political commitment of joining the Covenant into concrete, measurable action.

The SECAP succeeded the earlier Sustainable Energy Action Plans (SEAP), broadening their scope: alongside energy and climate change mitigation, it explicitly incorporates climate adaptation.

What a SECAP contains

A complete plan is usually built around several key elements:

• Baseline emission inventory: a calculation of the municipality's final energy consumption and CO2 emissions in a base year, used as the starting point to measure progress. It is, in essence, an emission inventory at local scale.
• Reduction targets: a quantified emissions-reduction goal for the target year, relative to the base year.
• Climate risk and vulnerability assessment: the analysis of climate threats to the area that underpins the adaptation measures.
• Mitigation and adaptation measures: the set of planned actions, with their timeline, responsible bodies and financing.
• Periodic monitoring: progress reports that allow targets to be tracked and measures adjusted.

Mitigation and adaptation together

The mitigation side focuses on cutting energy use and the associated emissions, above all through energy efficiency in buildings, lighting and municipal services, and a wider use of renewable energy. The adaptation side aims to reduce the municipality's vulnerability to events such as heatwaves, droughts or floods, in line with the path towards climate neutrality.

Relevance for companies

A municipality's SECAP defines many of the rules of the game for the companies that operate there: investment priorities, mobility criteria, energy retrofitting or public procurement. Knowing the local plan helps an organisation anticipate requirements, spot opportunities for collaboration and align its own decarbonisation roadmap with that of the area.

How Manglai can help

Manglai helps organisations measure their carbon footprint, build their emission inventory and design a reduction plan with targets and monitoring, with the same rigour expected of a climate plan. You can start with Manglai's carbon footprint software.