On 21 October, European Environment Ministers adopted the EU’s Council conclusions on COP30 preparing the EU position ahead of the UNFCCC 30th Conference of the Parties (COP30) in Belém, Brazil in November 2025. These conclusions will serve as the EU’s negotiation mandate at COP30.

In their conclusions, the Council “stresses the need for enhanced cooperation with local and regional governments and communities in accelerating and broadening socially just climate action, including within the UNFCCC process.“

ICLEI, as focal point of the Local Governments and Municipal Authorities (LGMA) Constituency, welcomes this explicit recognition of locally-led action. It continues a positive trend in recent Council conclusions acknowledging the leadership of local and regional governments and their role in implementing National Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement (NDCs) and adaptation plans. 

Following up on this recognition, ICLEI and its members call on the EU to join the Coalition for High Ambition Multilevel Partnerships (CHAMP) for Climate Action. CHAMP is already supported by many of the EU Member States. The EU joining the initiative as well would be an important next step toward the implementation of multilevel action. Joining CHAMP would enable local governments to play be a more active part in international climate agenda-setting by providing a framework for local voices to be meaningfully included in shaping, implementing, and monitoring climate commitments. As ICLEI President Katrin Stjernfeldt Jammeh, Mayor of Malmö, Sweden, underlined at the New York Climate Week 2025:

“I was a proud bearer of the message that local governments are ready to step up further, and to work with their networks to be more vocal, and bring strong evidence of climate impacts and solutions. In my city of Malmö, Sweden, we are demonstrating pioneering practices: offering new jobs and opportunities for our climate economy, divesting from fossil fuels, issuing social and green bonds and working with fair and inclusive transition. Sweden has endorsed the Coalition for High Ambition Multilevel Partnerships (CHAMP) for Climate Action and now we have an opportunity to meaningfully include local governments in our national climate planning and implementation.”

Local governments have already shown they are steadfast implementation partners who consistently support and deliver more ambitious action. The Town Hall COP model- connecting local communities to international climate negotiations to translate global targets into local action - pioneered by ICLEI and now adopted by cities and regions worldwide, proves that local governments are ready to step up their climate action together with their communities. During last week’s European Town Hall COP event “Cities and regions shaping global climate action ahead of COP30” in Brussels, held by the European Committee of the Regions, speakers such as Laurence Tubiana, Special Envoy to Europe for COP30, Athens Councillor Kostas Bakoyannis, and Muğla Mayor Ahmet Aras, highlighted that ambitious EU climate targets are necessary and achievable – but their implementation requires local governments to be move from the margins to the centre of climate action planning, financing and implementation on international level. 

As preparations for COP30 intensify, ICLEI and its partners in the LGMA Constituency will continue to ensure that the voice of local and regional governments is heard, carrying forward the messages from Town Hall COPs in the joint LGMA COP30 Position Paper.