At the recently concluded UN Climate Change Conference in Warsaw (COP19/CMP9), countries have decided to advance the engagement of local governments in the global climate regime. ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability welcomes this outcome and aims to further contribute through its various programs on climate action, including the Resilient Cities congress series, the global platform for urban resilience and climate change adaptation hosted every year in Bonn, Germany.
The decisions include (1) facilitating the exchange of experiences and best practices between cities and subnational authorities in identifying and implementing opportunities to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change, and (2) convening a specific forum as part of the UN Bonn Climate Conference in June 2014.
"With the Warsaw outcomes, nations confirm that local action is the key and one of the biggest leverage to ensure the transformation of our societies into low-emission and climate resilient development”, said Gino Van Begin, Secretary General of ICLEI, which is also the facilitator of the Local Government Climate Roadmap, an advocacy process aiming at recognizing, engaging and empowering local governments in the global climate regime.
CLEI recognizes the Warsaw Outcomes as the direct and immediate responses of national governments to the proposals of local and subnational governments as formulated in the Nantes Declaration of World Mayors and Subnational Leaders on Climate Change in September 2013.
The Nantes Declaration outlines the global climate advocacy strategy of local governments in the 2013-2015 period, as well as the welcoming of a “Friends of Cities” group at the UNFCCC level and the organization of Ministerial-Mayoral dialogues. It also includes launching a process for a local action plan in Warsaw 2013 to conclude in Paris 2015, providing specific windows for sustainable urban development in global climate finance mechanisms, and ensuring the vertical integration of local climate action at the national level.
Text and photo: ICLEI