COP25 Livestream
From Chile to UK – The Road to Glasgow: Consolidating city and other subnational contributions to raising NDC ambition and implementation
Through a dialogue between leading local government authorities, local government networks, and organizations that provide essential support for local climate action, this event seeks to provide continuity tot he increasingly significant role that cities and subnationals have assumed in the context of global climate negotiations, and determine how to reach a set of concrete goals and metrics along the road to Glasgow in 2020.
This event will focus on the pivotal role that sub-nationals are playing to marshal the resources, political will, and form the necessary coalitions to support national efforts in raising ambition and enacting the necessary measures to achieve goals consistent with a 1.5°C world. According to the IPCC Special Report, limiting global warming to 1.5°C would “require rapid and far-reaching transitions in uses of energy, land, urban and infrastructure (including transport and buildings), and industrial systems.” Cities consume over two thirds of global energy, representing over 70% of global GHG emissions. It will be impossible to meet climate targets without the commitments and actions of local governments.
It is estimated that signatory cities to the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy (GCoM) are crucial to meet emission reduction requirements, for example in Europe, cities will contribute as much as 30% of total GHG emissions reductions of all EU reduction targets by 2020 (compared to 2005). Cities and subnational governments from around the world have set ambitious targets, and demonstrated leadership on a range of issues, from energy, transport, waste management and circular economy, to green infrastructure, land and nature-based solutions, and local resilience and adaptation, often with important co-benefits, including, improving local equity, new job opportunities or improved air quality, and social wellbeing, among others. Yet very few National Governments have effectively integrated such multi-level action into goal setting, accounted for city contributions, nor involved sub-nationals in implementation processes, resulting in a missed opportunity for stronger climate action or improvements to broader sustainable development.
The Local Governments and Municipal Authorities (LGMA) constituency and partner organizations have highlighted a clear path of subnational leadership and the increasing need for multi-level integration. Through the LGMA constituency, NAZCA platform, Talanoa Dialogues, the Human Settlements segment of the Marrakech Partnership among others, sub-nationals have become an integral part of the UNFCCC process. At the same time, through efforts of city and subnational government networks, such as GCoM, ICLEI, C40, UCLG, Under2Coalition, US Climate Alliance, and Alliances for Climate Action, among others, sub-nationals have strengthened their commitments and capacities, and consolidated a key role in both raising ambition and implementing climate action.
Through a dialogue between leading local government authorities, local government networks, and organizations that provide essential support for local climate action, this event seeks to provide continuity to the increasingly significant role that cities and subnationals have assumed in the context of global climate negotiations, and determine how to reach a set of concrete goals and metrics along the road to Glasgow in 2020.
Opening Remarks from H.E. Carolina Schmidt, Chilean Minister of Environment; COP25 President; Claire Perry O´Neil, UK, COP26-President Designate; Ashok Sridharan, Mayor of Bonn, Germany; President of ICLEI; H.E. Luis Alfonso de Alba, UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy. Moderator: Manuel Pulgar (Head of WWF Climate and Energy Practice)
