Cities and regions are grappling with a multitude of escalating, interlinked global crises. As they chart their course through the challenges of biodiversity loss and climate change, local and regional governments emerge as critical players to spearhead bold biodiversity action to protect nature, and guarantee a safer, healthier, more resilient future for their communities.

To support cities in achieving this goal, ICLEI Europe is working together with the City of Berlin (Germany) towards the launch of the Berlin Urban Nature Pact. This initiative, by and for cities, is designed to empower local governments take steps towards the operationalisation of a global biodiversity agenda set by the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) and the renewed Plan of Action on Subnational Governments, Cities and Other Local Authorities for Biodiversity (2023-2030), adopted at the UN CBD COP15 in Montreal, Canada in December 2022. Following the Edinburgh Declaration and the Montreal Pledge, the Pact specifies concrete SMART targets, developed via a comprehensive global consultation with cities over four years. These targets, complemented by principles and guidance for effective implementation, are cross-cutting and trigger actions spanning multiple domains like food & agriculture, built environment, education, and green-blue infrastructure. The Pact will create opportunities for cities to build their capacity and contribute towards the Pact community of practice collaborating to drive transformative change locally and in turn, globally.

At June’s ICLEI World Congress in Sao Paulo (Brazil), Atha Phillips, Senior Policy Strategist from Austin, Texas (United States), shared her city’s rationale for joining the Pact in the session “Greening our Urban Tapestry: Collaboration and Solutions for Nature and Biodiversity”. She underscored that endorsing the Pact reinforces and guides Austin’s commitment to implementing the goals of the Kunming-Montreal framework set at COP15. The Pact will also be featured at COP16, where it will officially be launched and thereafter begin enrolling cities from around the world.

The Berlin Urban Nature Pact distinguishes itself from other initiatives in that the aim is to attract signatories with the most ambitious environmental goals that would serve as a model for other cities. The Pact community will build a platform where committed cities can exchange on how GBF targets can be integrated into local policy for global impact. The Pact is integrated with the existing CitiesWithNature platform for monitoring and reporting, which already functions as the official CBD platform where cities and regions are asked to report their environmental commitments.

Cities and regions are at a critical juncture where they must capitalise on opportunities to drive deep change for a greener future - the Berlin Urban Nature Pact serves as a vehicle to achieving this. Interested in joining the Pact with other cities around the world? Stay tuned for its official launch at COP16 this October. Meanwhile, to catch all Pact-related updates, sign up here.