This summer was a reminder of why climate action matters. Extreme heat in Europe claimed more than 16,500 additional lives across 854 cities, while floods and droughts cut €43 billion from regional economies. For people and businesses alike, climate action and resilience are not a distant concern - it is about our health, our safety, and our prosperity and competitiveness today, as well as tomorrow.

At this critical juncture, the EU has postponed the decision on the EU’s 2040 climate target earlier this month. The target is an important building block for the EU achieving its commitments under the Paris Climate Agreement, due to be submitted in the form of Nationally Determined Contributions ahead of the UN Climate COP30 in Belém.

The Paris Agreement remains the landmark agreement, in which 195 countries across the world agreed to keep global temperature rise well below 2°C. A binding EU 90% domestic emissions reduction target by 2040, as urged in a joint call from mayors and local leaders across Europe, is necessary to align Europe with climate science and its commitments under the Paris Agreement. It is also an opportunity for sending a strong signal that the EU remains ambitious on climate neutrality, competitiveness, security, and resilience to its businesses, citizens and the international community.

The window of opportunity is still open for the EU to set a robust target and adopt a strong role at COP30. This is, as Europe’s local and regional governments are already stepping up their climate action, from driving the transformation in energy, mobility and housing, to circularity. But they cannot do it alone.

Mayors demand a voice, citizens demand ambition. Together, they can lead action.

What local and regional governments now demand – and what Europe needs – is providing them with a stronger role in shaping EU and UN climate decisions, so that local governments, as the ones implementing change on the ground can exploit their full potential to not only design the policies, agreements, and programmes that determine success, but to implement them effectively. In May, over 100 European mayors, local leaders, and their networks demanded shared governance in a joint letter to EU leaders, including national governments, led by ICLEI President, the Mayor of Malmö (Sweden), and ICLEI Europe President, the Mayor of Freiburg (Germany). They reminded national governments and EU leadership that democracy and meaningful implementation on the ground falters when decisions are centralised and imposed from the top. For this reason, now more than ever, the EU needs to fundamentally strengthen its collaboration and partnership with cities and regions to unfold its full potential in the necessary transition. 

And Europe’s citizens, too, are stepping forward, claiming their role and voice in shaping local climate action. Together with their local governments, people all over the globe have embraced the concept of Town Hall COPs - an initiative launched by ICLEI - that initiates direct climate dialogue between residents and local governments and connects their actions to the NDCs and international processes like COP30. To date, 21 Town Hall COPs in twelve countries on five continents have been organised with many more planned, highlighting a growing global movement for citizen participation and interest in global climate governance. 

This is why the EU’s 2040 climate target and NDC are more than abstract numbers. They are an opportunity to empower local implementation of the Paris Agreement and to thereby achieve concrete improvements for people, including the lowering of energy bills, creating good jobs, strengthening resilience, and ensuring circular, thriving local economies. However, this requires meaningful consultation with local governments and equipping them with the necessary financial resources.

Local leaders on the global stage

Local and regional governments are already showing what multilevel leadership can achieve at home and beyond. This year, ICLEI’s largest-ever delegation led by ICLEI President and Mayor of Malmö, Katrin Stjernfeldt Jammeh, travelled to New York Climate Week, including over 20 mayors and leaders from Europe, the Americas, Africa, and Australia. In New York, Mayor Jammeh called for broad international support to the COP30 Presidency in leaving a legacy of multilevel partnership and urban action to pave the way for a collective commitment to design, build and live in climate and human friendly cities. 

In an ICLEI-convened dialogue earlier this month between local governments and Laurence Tubiana, COP30 Special Envoy for Europe and key architect of the Paris Agreement, Laurence Tubiana made it clear: the Paris Agreement was designed as an all-of-society effort, and the global gap between commitment and implementation cannot be allowed to grow further. European and global local leaders are showing that they are not only upholding democracy and climate ambition at home - they are also carrying the climate flag high on the way to COP30.

35 years of ICLEI: Local leaders, unite! 
As ICLEI marks 35 years of working with local governments across the globe, experience shows: when our cities and regions thrive, people and businesses thrive. In times when international political agreements seem increasingly difficult, and UN Climate COPs are becoming more inaccessible, local governments and their communities are taking matters into their own hands. 

The joint call from European mayors and local leaders is unambiguous: Include us, respect us, let us work together to deliver for citizens and residents. 

Local and regional governments are ready to step up. It's time to provide them with the role and resources they need to create a better future for all of us. Together, we can prove that Europe’s climate ambition is alive and well and that the Paris promise made to its people is a priority to be kept.