Yesterday, Pippa Heylings, member of the national cross-party Climate Change Task Group of Local Government Association representing over 300 local councils across England and Wales, delivered the LGMA statement at the COP26 Presidency. Read an extract from the statement below.
Multilevel coordination across local, regional, national and international government is now the new norm – and, as such, needs to be recognized explicitly in the Preamble to the Glasgow Agreement, providing consistency with Preamble paragraph 15 of the Paris Agreement. The Paris Agreement recognized multilevel collaboration; Glasgow should now ensure that multilevel action is delivered.
We welcome the relative increase in ambition in a number of countries from both the Global North and South since 2015. Such ambition has been made possible because they now include subnational commitments and action.
As place-shapers, only local government holds the wide range of delivery powers and assets – and the potential for market and non-market mechanisms to finance action at scale – that are necessary to decarbonize transport, buildings, waste and generate nature-based solutions in and around the urban landscape.
Global treaties require local actions. Local and subnational governments are often responsible for implementing global goals. Bringing together members of the Under2 Coalition provided the opportunity to build and sustain momentum for climate ambition.
11:30 - 13:00 GMT
Smart, green investments and interventions with resilience principles in mind can create a triple dividend: helping cities boost their economies; improving equity; and preparing communities for inevitable climate and health threats.
15:00 - 16:30 GMT
This event will gather politicians representing members of the Under 2 coalition to discuss what just transition means for them, and how meaningful change can be driven across different layers of government.
If you missed a session, navigate to the replay tab on the platform to watch again.
"Now we understood that we need to talk about adaptation and mitigation as two sides of the same coin [and] to make sure that global frameworks offer enough flexibilities to be localized into the local agendas. Local governments don’t separate the adaptation and mitigation agendas—they often act on them together, as climate strategies. We, as the international communities, need to give local governments the tools that match their needs."
Maria José Sanz, Director of the Basque Center for Climate Change (BC3)
This official side event featured Dr. Mohamed Boudra, President of United Cities and Local Governments, President of the Moroccan Association of Municipal Councils; Rt Hon. María Aranzazu Tapia, Minister for Economic Development, Sustainability and Environment, Basque Country Government & Regions4 President; Ronan Dantec, Senator for Nantes, France & Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR); Kelly King, Councilor, Maui County, Hawai, USA & ICLEI USA Board Member; Maria José Sanz, Director of the Basque Center for Climate Change (BC3); and Yunus Arikan, Director of Global Advocacy, ICLEI & UNFCCC LGMA Focal Point. You catch watch the full side event on YouTube.
Share your experience
Share your experience at the online pavilion with your network!
Visit our Trello board for all the assets you need to create social media posts about your participation in the event.
