After another year of frequent wildfires, flooding, and landslides in Europe, fulfilling the Paris Agreement – keeping the global temperature increase below 1.5°C – is not just ‘nice to have’, but a necessity. Declaring a ‘global boiling point’ in 2023, the United Nations recognised that humanity is at a critical turning point – a reality that is felt daily in cities and towns across the globe.
At a time when EU leaders’ attention starts to shift towards a crucial EU election year in 2024, the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is convening in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. COP28 – which is taking place from 30 November to 12 December 2023 – provides a unique opportunity to demonstrate to voters at home, as well as to the international community, that the EU is willing and capable to lead on the key issues for a successful COP28: ensuring an ambitious and just green energy transition by setting global sustainable and energy efficiency standards and targets, delivering climate finance and a strong loss & damage mechanism.
Moving first, and moving fast
Ursula Von Der Leyen started her term in 2019 as European Commission president with the objective to establish the EU as: “a global leader by moving first and moving fast… Showing the rest of the world how to be sustainable and competitive, we can convince other countries to move with us.” This would be accomplished via one of the most ambitious and widely supported initiatives by any European Commission: the European Green Deal. This year’s COP28 is therefore a decisive one for the European Commission and EU leaders, not only because EU elections are coming up, but also in light of the first Global Stocktake taking place. This Stocktake is a global assessment of the progress made towards the Paris Agreement and meeting its 1.5°C target. This is an opportunity to showcase where the EU is leading not only in defining ambitious pledges, but also in implementing them.
Local leaders taking climate action
Local leaders and their communities have done their homework ahead of COP28. European cities widely embraced the EU Green Deal, through EU initiatives such as the Intelligent Cities Challenge, and the Local Green Deal concept championed by ICLEI and key partners including the European Committee of the Regions. Local Stocktake events also took place in 27 cities across more than 16 countries as part of ICLEI’s #Stocktake4ClimateEmergency initiative.
The goal of these local stocktakes was to ensure local voices are heard in the global Paris Agreement process and at COP28. Local governments are committed to working closely with national and supranational governments to keep the 1.5°C target alive. However, no matter their ambition, local stakeholders depend on the political and financial frameworks set by national governments.
Working together with local governments is crucial to ensuring the support and the operationalisation of the massive changes needed to achieve the Paris Agreement. ICLEI is the official focal point for the Local Governments and Municipal Authorities (LGMA) Constituency to the UN climate negotiations – a constituency that has published a joint call to action ahead of COP28, calling for a new multilevel governance infrastructure to address climate responses in an equitable manner that will allow the local level to actively contribute to national emission reduction efforts and climate targets.
Multilevel governance at COP
Calls and continued effort to bolster multilevel governance over the past decade has not gone unnoticed. The first Local Climate Action Summit at COP, hosted by the COP28 Presidency in collaboration with Bloomberg Philanthropies, will be held on 1-2 December 2023. In addition, a Ministerial Meeting on Urbanization and Climate Change, the second of its kind, will take place on 6 December 2023, led by the COP28 Presidency, UN-Habitat and the UN Climate Change High-Level Champion for COP28. The meeting will convene national Ministers of Housing, Urban Development, and Environment Finance, alongside local and regional leaders and financial institutions. Together, they will define multilevel actions for sustainable urbanisation across sectors including buildings, waste, transport, water, energy, and nature.
In the EU, the local level is responsible for implementing more than 70% of EU policy regulations and measures; as such, their involvement is key to making sure these measures are accepted by the public and rolled-out swiftly. In recognition of this, the Council of the European Union has formally set-out to advocate for closer cooperation with local and regional governments as part of the EU’s official COP28 negotiation position and mandate. Their official council conclusions explain, “the leadership of local and regional governments in accelerating and broadening climate action while effectively engaging citizens in the transformative process to sustainable lifestyles and patterns of consumption and production”. The Council furthermore emphasises, “the need for increased involvement of local and regional governments in the process of implementing NDCs, national adaptation plans (NAPs) and LTS”.
The unprecedented recognition of local and regional governments’ leadership in accelerating climate action at the European and international level is a crucial step towards effectively addressing the climate crisis.
ICLEI Regional Director for Europe Wolfgang Teubner explains, “ICLEI Europe and its Members from local and regional governments welcome the Environment Council’s conclusion on COP28 recognising the crucial role of local and regional governments in implementing effective and inclusive climate action with citizens. This is a landmark step in underlining the importance of close cooperation between different levels of government to achieve national and international climate goals. By increasing cooperation on shaping and implementing relevant policies across all levels of government, the EU can pave the way for an effective and ambitious response to the climate emergency at COP28 and beyond.”
Empowering local voices
Local governments across Europe and the world, will bring the sense of urgency felt in their communities to COP28 in the hopes of convincing global leaders that there is no more time to waste. For European leaders, COP28 will provide a global stage and opportunity to demonstrate the EU’s ability to act as one, fulfil its commitments, and to lead bold action. A strong, multilevel governance mechanism will allow nations to move from global targets to global implementation. This is an opportunity that will be important not only for the EU elections, but for the success of COP28 and for our collective prospects of addressing the climate crisis. This is a chance to remember that maintaining a habitable planet is everyone’s business and everyone’s responsibility.
More about ICLEI and the LGMA constituency at COP28
The Multilevel Action & Urbanization Pavilion serves as the global stage for the city climate agenda during COP28. The Pavilion is co-convened by UN-Habitat and ICLEI in its role as the focal point of the LGMA Constituency. The sessions taking place at the Pavilion will bring into focus not only local and subnational challenges and needs, but also their accomplishments and commitments on climate action. ICLEI Europe is furthermore organising a number of sessions to bring together cities, towns, regions, and political and business representatives to explore ways of strengthening climate finance, multilevel governance and local climate action.