On September 25, during a Regional Dialogue hosted by the European Union’s International Urban Cooperation (IUC) Programme in Cartagena, Colombia, it was announced that Mayor Jorge Muñoz Wells of Lima, Peru was appointed to represent Latin America and the Caribbean for C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group on the GCoM Board. Muñoz will represent signatory cities from the entire region, consisting of over 161 million people, during his term until 2021. Watch Mayor Muñoz's welcome video here.
The Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate, together with the Governments of Germany and Luxembourg, announced the launch of the City Climate Finance Gap Fund. Both governments together intend to provide up to 50M EUR in grants for project preparation activities. The GAP Fund aims for a capitalization of at least EUR 100M which will unlock EUR 4BN in high-quality low-carbon and climate resilient infrastructure projects in cities.
With support and significant input from GCoM, the Coalition for Urban Transitions (CUT) launched its new flagship report on September 19, Climate Emergency, Urban Opportunity, supported by 50 leading institutions, which finds that national governments that invest in low-carbon cities can enhance economic prosperity, make cities better places to live and rapidly reduce carbon emissions. The report set a narrative ahead of the Summit of the unique and crucial role of national governments to unlock the economic and social benefits of inclusive, sustainable cities.
Find here a special briefing, prepared by CUT, for Mayors and city governments on the benefits of compact, connected and clean cities and how national governments can support the work.
Handing over the Urban Opportunity report to the Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed.
The Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy, uniting a global coalition of over 10,000 cities and local governments, endorsed the Amazon Cities Pact which calls for concrete measures to be taken to protect the Amazon region. Show your support!
Show your support for the Amazon Cities Pact, with our social toolkit
In Focus
How Ghana’s youngest mayor is becoming one of the climate’s biggest defenders
Our feature story: a GCoM interview with Mayor Iddrisu of Sagnarigu Municipality, Ghana
Established in 2012, the Sagnarigu Municipality is one of Ghana’s youngest provinces. Despite its young age, under the leadership of Mayor Mariam Iddrisu, Sagnarigu has bold ambitions to take real action on climate change.Read more
Regions Updates
United States
IUC North America to support four regions: The International Urban Cooperation (IUC) program has recently announced the successful applicants for the ‘Regional and Metro-scale Climate Leaders’ initiative:
Across the next 12 months, IUC and the GCoM will be working closely with these beneficiaries to help develop regional Climate Action Plans through coordination and cooperation at the metropolitan level.
GCoM Webinars for US cities: ICLEI US, as helpdesk for the GCoM in the US, launched a series of 9 webinars in September that will cover key topics for cities’ engagement in the GCoM. The webinars aim at providing technical support to US cities to move forward with their commitment to the GCoM.
Canada
FCM and ICLEI Canada, with the support of the IUC North America, recently closed the call for applications for the Global Covenant of Mayors Canada Showcase Cities pilot project. 25 Canadian municipalities committed to advancing the transition to a low emission and climate-resilient economy have been selected and will be announced very soon.
Latin American and the Carribean
IUC in Cartagena: On September 25th and 26th the Regional Dialogue "Financing Sustainable Urban Development and Climate Action" gathered key stakeholders in Latin America with the support of the IUC. This event provided an opportunity for cities engaging with the IUC programme to share ideas and learn from experts on how to develop bankable projects, and to secure investment and funding for local action plans. On the second day, representatives from the National Consultative Committees (NCC) and key stakeholders engaged in the Global Covenant of Mayors had the opportunity to come together, discuss and exchange on challenges and solutions for the development and implementation of local action plans and strategies.
Eastern Europe
From 15-16 October, CoM East and CoM-DeP held a joint steering committee meeting in Tbilisi, Georgia. The meeting gathered more than 40 coordinators, supporters, and stakeholders of the Covenant to discuss key developments and results, highlighting in-region challenges as well as emerging opportunities in 2020 and beyond to begin laying groundwork for future growth.
Sub Saharan Africa
The CoM SSA hosted a conference on the first day of the Climate Chance Africa Summit in Accra, Ghana, on October 16th. The conference was the perfect occasion to share the lessons learned from the cities engaged in the initiative as well as its implementing partners.
Northern Africa and Middle East
The ClimaMed project's steering committee met in Brussels on September 19th, gathering key stakeholders from the eight countries where the project is being implemented. The meeting was a good opportunity to assess the progress in the last year and discuss key priorities for the future in the region.
Southeast Asia
The Asia Pacific Urban Forum took place in Penang, Malaysia from the 15th to the 17th of October with numerous sessions featuring the GCoM in the region. Prior to the Forum, the IUC Asia team organized a training workshop for GCoM Malaysian cities, focusing on access to finance for the implementation of climate action. More info here
East Asia
The Seoul Mayors Forum on Climate Change 2019 will take place on October 24th and 25th gathering Mayors from all over the world. A series of sessions will focus on the GCoM, featuring active mayors of the alliance as well as key stakeholders supporting local climate action. The sessions include:
Climate-neutral cities: Local action that contributes to NDCs
GCoM and Co-benefits of Climate & Energy Action
And a series of breakout sessions: Climate Change in Asia, Climate Finance, Resilience and Adaptation and GCoM in South Korea
The Steering Committee of the "Covenant of Mayors Japan" had its first formal gathering on 8 August in the Japanese capital of Tokyo. More info here.
South Asia
India-EU Urban Forum – Signing: During the 1st India - European Union Forum organized on 17-18 September 2019 in New Delhi, seven new Indian cities, Ahmedabad, Bhavnagar, Gandhinagar, Jamnagar, Junagadh, Kochi and Vadodara signed the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy (GCOM) commitment in presence of Mr. Durga Shanker Mishra, Secretary Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and other senior EU officials.
Don't Miss!
2019 Transformative Actions Program call for applications now open: On 23 September at the UN Climate Action Summit in New York, ICLEI launched the 2019 Transformative Actions Program (TAP) call for applications. By actively seeking transformative climate projects, the TAP supports local and regional governments to develop concepts into low risk, high feasibility, high impact sustainable infrastructure projects. Deadline to apply is 30 November 2019, to learn more & apply: https://tap-potential.org/
For the first time, a visionary group of national and local governments has agreed to work together on a focused, feasible and scalable blueprint of city climate action. This new article looks at mayors and ministers and the actions they’re currently taking at the nexus of innovation, data and finance, and the concrete next steps they can take – together. Read more.
By greening our cities with street trees, urban parks, and community and rooftop gardens, we can keep ourselves cool amid rising temperatures, save species, and foster happiness and social connection in the process. Read more.
In addition to reaffirming their commitment to reducing greenhouse-gas emissions, world leaders who gathered for the UN Climate Action Summit also discussed how the public and private sectors can work together to tackle climate change. Read more.
Close to 30 global initiatives to ramp up action on climate change were unveiled or expanded at the U.N. Climate Action Summit in New York. Here is a summary of 12 of these initiatives, whose aim is to reach the targets set by the Paris Agreement. Read more.
The Climate Finance Leadership Initiative (CFLI)'s report, Financing the Low-Carbon Future, focuses on mobilizing private climate finance at the scale and velocity needed to support an orderly transition to a low-carbon global economy. It highlights real-world examples of best practices and actionable solutions to the challenges that most often prevent sustainable low-carbon investment.
For Cities By Cities presents the science in the most concise and action-oriented way possible, and is specifically tailored for decision-makers and policymakers in the world’s cities and urban areas. This brief distills the science on 1.5°C to highlight key messages and actionable data, such as trajectories to phase out fossil fuels from our cities, the need to cut emissions 45-75% by 2030, and the need to achieve net-zero emissions before 2050.
12 November: Raising National Ambition on Climate: The Role of Cities in the National Determined Contributions and LongTerm Emissions Reduction Strategies [C40, Global Covenant of Mayors, ICLEI, UCLG]
13 November: Special Session: Ecology for the Future
13 November: Climate Action: Perspectives From the Regions [Global Covenant of Mayors (GCoM)/UCLG, and Partners]
15 November: GCoM Working Board Meeting
GCoM Open House, Brussels, Belgium, 20-22 November 2019
