COP26 outcomes: Multilevel action is the beacon of hope to keep the 1.5 degree goal alive

Leaders returning home from Glasgow will be feeling many mixed emotions on how COP26 concluded. In a fraught two weeks, where the worst case outcome of a failed agreement was possible at many moments, to have achieved a global agreement at the global climate conference at all is a muted success. As many have noted, 

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Glasgow Food and Climate Declaration: Putting local and regional food systems on the table of the UN Climate Negotiations

Today’s food systems account for approximately one third of total GHG emissions, are a primary cause of environmental degradation, loss of biodiversity and significantly contribute to socio-economic and health inequalities. Concrete action points on food systems have so far been neglected at previous COP negotiations and when setting National Determined Contributions (NDCs). A much stronger 

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It’s not all about megacities. Small and medium municipalities join forces to deliver impactful climate action.

Cities have been making headlines this COP, but it’s often the climate action of big player metropoles that we see showcased. Small and medium cities have been mobilizing with the Global Covenant of Mayors (GCoM) to take on the climate crisis. At the session ‘Accelerating local climate action in medium & small municipalities committed to 

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Cities’ climate commitments outperform nations on ambition.

Cities are ready with robust climate action plans and ambitious targets that often outpace their national counterparts. What they need now is support from their national governments and financiers to turn their prioritized actions into resilience-building projects. Cities are hubs of innovation, and, especially in the smaller and medium-sized municipalities, local governments are agile and 

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How knowledge brokering is catalyzing resilience and gender equity in Global South’s climate plans

The uneven distribution of climate impacts between the Global North and South is irrefutable. As the Global South mobilizes to build the resilience of its communities, their primary tool is knowledge – and lots of it. Held at the Multilevel Action Pavilion, the session Time4MultilevelAction Dialogues: Global South showcased the knowledge products and services less 

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Regions employ nature-based, financial and legal instruments to outperform on adaptation

While climate measures have sought to mitigate future climate change through reducing emission levels, efforts to adapt communities to harmful changes happening now have fallen short. Frustrated by the lethargy of national adaptation strategies, regions are employing all the tools in their power to build resilience.  On Adaptation, Loss and Damage day at COP26, regional 

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Listen. Include. Empower. How local communities take central stage at COP26

Subnational governments have found their home at the Multilevel Action Pavilion at COP26, a place for debate, knowledge exchange, and success stories of subnational climate action and collaboration. As the Pavilion’s motto “Time4MultilevelAction” suggests, collaboration between all levels of governments and different stakeholders must now become the new normal. That spirit was fully embodied by 

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Why there won’t be climate action without culture and youth.

“What of the past will the present save for the future?”.  That’s how Andrew Potts, Coordinator of Climate Heritage Network, opened the session Culture Driving Climate Resilient Futures: An Intergenerational Dialogue, on COP26 Youth Day at the Multilevel Action Pavilion. Here panellists of all ages convened to discuss how concepts of cultural heritage had propelled 

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How The Gambia became the first country set to fully honor the Paris Agreement

National climate plans from all over the world rolled in ahead of COP26, but as yet only one country’s plans are ambitious enough to meet all the Paris Agreement goals. The inclusion of subnational governments played a crucial part. The UNFCCC’s 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26) in November is a critical summit for addressing 

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Taking concrete steps to get climate finance to cities

This blog was written by Adel Strydom, Senior Communications Officer at ICLEI Africa, and Kale Roberts, Senior Program Officer at ICLEI USA. Cities, regions and other local governments – where climate action so often ultimately plays out – are driving finance conversations at the summit. Yesterday’s #Time4MultileveAction dialogue brought the right people in the room 

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