COP25 opens: In the time of climate emergency, an opportunity


Yunus Arikan

Global Director of Advocacy, ICLEI
Local Governments and Municipal Authorities (LGMA) Constituency Focal Point

Local and regional governments are an extensive and diverse presence at this year’s COP, showing the depth of our commitment to solving the climate crisis. This strong representation demonstrates that we, as a constituency, are fully behind the implementation of the Paris Agreement. We are bringing to COP25 our immensely rich expertise within the climate field – from nature-based solutions to circular economy from finance to youth leadership.

The constituency of local and regional governments have been able to work closely with the Chilean Presidency of COP25 over the past months, which has been a promising sign of our role in the negotiations. This year’s COP is our last chance to communicate the urgency of making nations’ NDCs compatible with the Paris Agreement before we get the revised goals next year. National governments can do this only if they take cities and regions into account in these revised NDCs.

The thousands of local and regional governments who have declared climate emergencies are using this moment to elevate the overall challenge of sustainability in a way that we haven’t been able to before, to show our commitment to transformation to a more sustainable future. Follow #COP25 cities and regions stories in these daily recaps and join the conversation in this #timeforaction.