The new ICLEI vision for the urban era – the ICLEI Montréal Commitment and Strategic Vision – adopted by the ICLEI Council, calls on ICLEI Members to aim for climate neutrality in government infrastructure and operations before mid-century.

“We need more cities worldwide to go climate neutral,” said Gino Van Begin, Secretary General of ICLEI. “Climate neutrality in the municipal operations and infrastructure is an essential step for full delivery of the Paris Agreement. Cities of all sizes and on any continent can take on this challenge and move us closer towards a climate-neutral world.”

ICLEI Members like Stockholm (Sweden), Paris (France) and Barcelona (Spain) have already set ambitious climate neutrality targets, and have even called upon the European Commission directly to adopt the Paris Agreement targets as the goals of its long-term strategy on emissions reduction. That means acknowledging a 1.5°C increase in global temperature and a net-zero emissions society as necessary goals for the European Commission’s future strategy.

The Paris Agreement calls for climate neutrality in the second half of the century to avoid the worst effects of climate change. With cities contributing to more than 70 percent of global energy-related greenhouse gas emissions, the urban dimension of climate action is critical. 

This call, along with the open letter submitted by many European cities to the European Commission, comes just ahead of the Global Climate Action Summit. There, climate stakeholders worldwide will put forward bold new climate commitments. If the European Commission aligns itself directly with the Paris Agreement, these commitments will have a powerful source of support both in implementing climate action and ahead of the year-end climate negotiations in Katowice. 

To read the full letter, click here.