With the announcement of first-ever COP28 Local Climate Action Summit, a comprehensive LGMA COP28 Vision to formulate how multilevel action delivers, and innovative mini-COPs through Stocktake4ClimateEmergency, LGMA is now entering into a new phase. Our advocacy will ensure COP28 is the beginning of a new era — where multilevel action and urbanization hold the key to a "climate emergency" mode of action. To guide our efforts, we again share a preliminary mapping of the ecosystem of subnational advocacy to ensure appropriate synergy.
2 December | Dubai, UAE
COP28 President-designate Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber and UN Special Envoy on Climate Ambition and Solutions Michael R. Bloomberg announced the COP28 Local Climate Action Summit, which will bring hundreds of subnational leaders into the COP program and process.
The UN Secretary General brought together the world’s most ambitious leaders from government, business, cities and regions, civil society, and finance to accelerate global climate action. London Mayor Sadiq Khan and California, USA Governor Gavin Newsom spoke at the opening plenary and Washington, USA Governor Jay Inslee spoke at the Integrity Matters thematic session. The Summit Chair’s summary report mentions subnational contributions to NDCs by 2025 as a key outcome.
The GST Co-facilitators released the Synthesis Report of the Global Stocktake Technical Dialogues on 8 September, with numerous references to local and community inputs — but still lacking explicit reference to “multilevel.” The report concludes the technical phase of the GST and opens the final, political phase. In the LGMA’s Joint Statement, we call on Parties to recognize that multilevel governance can provide a significant contribution to closing the gap exposed by Global Stocktake.
We’re happy to share that the COP28 President Designate invited Makati City Mayor Abigail Binay to the COP28 Advisory Committee. Mayor Binay is a well-connected leader in Asia Pacific and highly engaged with ICLEI, UCLG and GCoM. She will be the first local leader in this position for COP28. Congratulations to Mayor Binay!
The LGMA's COP28 position document is final and open for endorsement until 29 November. The statement calls on the Parties to the Paris Agreement to act on ten key requests, including formalizing subnational voices in the UNFCCC COP agenda, applying vertical integration, addressing the links between climate change and nature and biodiversity loss.
The LGMA Intervention, delivered by Pablo Mariani from UCLG at the civil society dialogue of the Co-Chairs and Members of the Transitional Committee, was live webcasted and available on demand (photo credit UNFCCC).
The how-to webinar offered guidance on hosting your own Local & Subnational Stocktake event, from communities that have successfully hosted stocktakes themselves.
LGMA partners and their network of cities were heavily engaged in New York Climate Week. To give an example of the LGMA's many involvements, the Global Covenant of Mayors (GCoM) and WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities announced the forthcoming launch of the Integrity Matters for Cities, States, and Regions report in December 2023.
Regional Climate Weeks
The LGMA is engaging in the UNFCCC Regional Climate Weeks through “Track 2: Cities, Urban and Rural Settlements, Infrastructure and Transport.”
African subnational governments have evidence-based plans and projects to accelerate climate action, but significantly increased funding is needed to implement these at scale. An unprecedented number of subnational government leaders present at the Africa Climate Week and Summit called for the mandatory inclusion of subnational governments in the preparation of the next phase of NDCs to be submitted by 2025, re-emphasising the critical importance of multilevel governance in tackling the climate crisis.
IGES and ICLEI Japan have engaged in the preparation process. Urban7 have been invited to represent the LGMA (photo credit Urban7).
The LGMA’s advocacy calendar culminates in November/December with COP28 in Dubai. Still, it is marked by key moments all year long, across three agendas: United Nations and UNFCCC events hosted globally or by nations, and those hosted by our own constituency organizations. Stay informed with our monthly webinars! Register here.
