Global sustainability agendas: 10 things we’re watching for in 2025

Global sustainability agendas: 10 things we’re watching for in 2025

ByYunus Arikan

As we begin a pivotal year, many global north countries are facing elections and leadership changes, testing the world’s commitment to sustainable development. Last year, we witnessed several key global processes needing to continue into 2025 – like the biodiversity negotiations and the Plastics Treaty – or delivering a disappointing lack of ambition, such as the climate COP. Here are the ten things we’re watching for in 2025 regarding the global sustainability agendas.

Ten ingredients to stir up urban agrifood systems transformation

Ten ingredients to stir up urban agrifood systems transformation

ByBarbara Riedemann

What happens when around 100 stakeholders from five continents come together to discuss urban agrifood systems transformation? In September 2024, the Urban Agrifood Systems Global Workshop—co-organized by FAO and ICLEI—turned FAO headquarters in Rome into a vibrant marketplace of ideas. Check out the outcomes.

Scaling climate finance: From COP29 to COP30 and beyond

Scaling climate finance: From COP29 to COP30 and beyond

ByNatalia Salazar

The urgent call for increased climate finance for local and regional governments has resonated globally with stakeholders rallying to address this challenge. Initial commitments and progress on mechanisms at COP29 in Baku, while encouraging, mark just the beginning of a critical journey toward COP30 in Belém, Brazil.

Two years, no agreement on plastics: Where to from here? The Local and Subnational Government Coalition asks after INC-5 

Two years, no agreement on plastics: Where to from here? The Local and Subnational Government Coalition asks after INC-5 

ByMagash Naidoo

Held from 25 November to 1 December 2024, in Busan, Republic of Korea, the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution (INC-5) to develop a Global Plastic Treaty concluded without an agreement, pushing further negotiations into 2025. The draft text made some references to local and subnational governments, prompting the Local and Subnational Governments Coalition to End Plastic Pollution to advocate for stronger inclusion.

From Daring Cities to Town Hall COPs, how ICLEI is taking on local-to-global climate action

From Daring Cities to Town Hall COPs, how ICLEI is taking on local-to-global climate action

ByBarbara Riedemann

Throughout 2024, Daring Cities spotlighted the Town Hall COPs initiative as an innovative mechanism linking local climate emergency action to national and global efforts. How do the Town Hall COPs fit into the current global climate arena? We brought this discussion to COP29.

A new menu? Bringing stakeholders to the table for urban agrifood systems transformation

A new menu? Bringing stakeholders to the table for urban agrifood systems transformation

ByBarbara Riedemann

From 9 to 11 September 2024, over 100 participants from five continents gathered at FAO headquarters in Rome for the Urban Agrifood Systems Global Workshop, co-organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and ICLEI. The workshop laid the groundwork for the co-creation of a five-year Roadmap toward transforming urban agrifood systems.