The concrete pool of services that a company can receive depends on the level of ambition of their pledge and ranges from access to guidance material, peer learning and masterclasses to direct one-to-one technical assistance.
Technical Assistance: tailored support for Bronze, Silver and Gold pledgers
‘Technical Assistance’ services provide companies having pledged to Levels 2, 3 or 4 with tailored support in addressing a particular element of their decarbonisation journey. Candidates can choose from a range of advisory services in the course of the application process.
Companies can indicate which service they wish to receive via the online Pledging form once they have committed to Bronze, Silver or Gold level.
All applications will be carefully reviewed by the Covenant secretariat. The secretariat will identify a shortlist of entities to be invited to receive support through the Technical Assistance programme. Upon acceptance into the programme of Technical Assistance, the scope and details of the assistance to be provided will be agreed between the entity and the Covenant of Companies’ secretariat in a formal signed agreement. Entities will then work through their tailored course of assistance with the Covenant’s technical experts.
Within the current CCCE Initiative timeline, direct technical assistance can be provided for to up to 100 entities (within the second call, direct technical assistance will be provided up to 75 companies). This assistance is intended to cover a variety of aspects of the energy transition, including social, legal, regulatory, financing and technical assistance. The technical assistance is provided to entities based on the two calls for technical assistance which represent separate processes and are not connected:
- the first call – June 2022–April 2023: the call for applications was launched on 15 June 2022 and closed on 30 September 2022. The Technical Assistance was provided between October 2022 and April 2023.
- the second call – May 2023–October 2023: the call for applications opened on 8 May 2023. Applications are being screened continuously and applicants will be informed about the results as soon as their application has been evaluated. Applications are being evaluated subject to the eligibility criteria and are awarded on a first-come-first-served basis.
Have you pledged already? Apply for Technical Assistance here.
Completion of the Technical Assistance programme
Technical Assistance will be provided based on the tasks and timing defined in the Technical Assistance agreement with each successful applicant. All Technical Assistance will be provided remotely by the Covenant’s Brussels-based experts. Upon completion of the programme, the participating entity will receive a short report that summarises the process and result of the Technical Assistance. The report can be confidential, public or shared with relevant third parties, depending on the decision of the beneficiary.
Masterclasses
Companies pledging through the Covenant will gain access to a series of expert masterclasses depending on their level of commitment.
Bronze:
- How to prepare for an Energy Audit
- Solar energy: how to get started
- The CCCE recognition scheme
- ‘Energy efficiency: low hanging fruits’
Silver:
- How to monitor your GHG emissions continuously
- How to develop an action plan to reduce GHG emissions
Gold:
- Your action to become net zero
- How to evaluate suppliers on GHG emissions
Companies will also benefit from Peer Learning (through moderated online discussions)
All details about CCCE Technical Assistance are available in the CCCE Guide for Applicants for Technical Assistance.
Support Materials
The Covenant of Companies also provides a comprehensive set of support materials for companies. These materials include:
- Criteria for science-based targets.
- Guidance documents on performing an emission inventory, setting energy performance baseline, developing clean energy plans and implementing an accurate monitoring and reporting process. The guidance documents will also describe and link to some suitable existing guidance documents and tools.
- Examples of sector specific easy energy solutions, sector-specific energy action plans and monitoring and reporting process.
- Overview of existing energy efficiency and renewable energy support in (selected) Member States and at EU level. This overview covers financial support schemes and capacity building schemes.
- Overview of financing tools for clean energy research and innovation in Member States and at EU level.
Stay tuned to the Covenant of Companies’ virtual community for exclusive access to these materials.