U.S. cities are raising climate ambition through subnational diplomacy

National associations of cities and city leaders, including in the United States (U.S)., are taking country-level climate goals into their own hands, by advocating for stronger participation of subnational governments in climate decision-making.

Last month, the United States Conference of Mayors adopted a resolution inviting U.S. cities and towns to update their climate targets and communicate these to the federal government. The resolution called on the U.S. government to act on its endorsement of the Coalition for High Ambition Multilevel Partnerships (CHAMP) initiative at the 28th session of the United Nations’ annual “Conference of the Parties” climate conference (COP28), which was a commitment to include subnational governments in climate decision-making. This resolution follows similar efforts made by national associations of local governments in Germany and Brazil.

“The United States government has brought CHAMP home by endorsing the initiative to advance multilevel cooperation on climate goals at COP28 in Dubai last December. Now, we must work together to ensure we can deliver this in a strong Paris Agreement plan by 2025 from the American government, oriented around collaborations across all levels of government. Cities across the U.S. are committed to helping to make this happen — by advocating for bold action across all levels of governance, updating their climate targets and communicating these to the federal government,” said Barbara Buffaloe, Mayor of Columbia, Missouri, USA, who serves on the ICLEI Regional Executive Committee for North America.

Mayor Buffaloe co-sponsored the resolution adopted by the United States Conference of Mayors inviting U.S. cities and towns to update their 2030, 2040 and 2050 climate targets and communicate these to the federal government. The resolution also encourages the U.S. Government to act on its endorsement of the CHAMP initiative.

Launched by the COP28 Presidency in Dubai, the CHAMP initiative has a clear goal: enhance the participation of local and regional governments in the development of revised national climate goals due in 2025 at COP30.

The United States is one of the seventy-two countries that have endorsed CHAMP, committing to integrate their local, regional and other subnational governments in the Paris Agreement climate goals’ – known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) - planning, financing and implementation. The initiative represents a significant step towards integrating local and regional actions with national climate plans to submit enhanced, multilevel NDCs.

The resolution was adopted during the Conference of Mayors' 92nd annual meeting, held from June 20-23 in Kansas City, Missouri. With over 1,400 mayors representing cities of 30,000 or more inhabitants, the Conference of Mayors' resolution demonstrates U.S. cities' readiness to support CHAMP. It also highlights their leading contribution to the Paris Agreement's Global Stocktake process throughout 2023, which paved the way for official local government contributions to UNFCCC.

A worldwide movement to step up for CHAMP

At the ICLEI World Congress 2024 closing plenary on June 21, Katja Dörner, Mayor of Bonn, Germany, and chair of the Climate Action Governance Portfolio for the ICLEI Global Executive Committee, made a call to action: she urged mayors to proactively engage with their national governments and national associations of local governments to enhance NDCs by 2025 and support CHAMP.

Mayor Dörner spearheaded this effort in her own country by pushing forward a resolution adopted on June 5 by the Association of German Cities (DST), marking the first national position of local governments supporting CHAMP. "I invite urban leaders to replicate similar efforts in your countries and share your progress with us at the annual Daring Cities Bonn Dialogues and report to UNFCCC," called Mayor Dörner, who serves as Vice President of the DST.

This move was followed by the Frente Nacional de Prefeitas e Prefeitos (FNP), where representatives from cities across Brazil released a letter of commitment pledging support for CHAMP. The letter also reaffirmed the commitment of Brazilian cities to collaborate with state and federal governments in executing and implementing international climate agreements assumed by the country. "This support, which began with German cities and now includes the FNP, will greatly strengthen efforts to elevate the role of municipalities in the national climate process," said Axel Grael, Mayor of Nitéroi, Brazil, Chair of the ICLEI Climate Action Support Portfolio and Vice President of the FNP.

(Left) Axel Grael, Mayor of Nitéroi, Brazil, Chair of the ICLEI Climate Action Support Portfolio and Vice President of the FNP with (right) another representative of FNP.

ICLEI

Other efforts to support the advancement of CHAMP are underway. During ICLEI’s Daring Cities 2024 forum, the first CHAMP endorsed roundtable convened by the Local Governments and Municipal Authorities (LGMA) Constituency gathered representatives from 20 CHAMP endorser countries, alongside mayors and other key stakeholders who gathered to share progress and strategize on fulfilling their commitments ahead of COP30. "It's time to bring CHAMP to life," said Mayor Dörner at the roundtable.

Interested city and national representatives are invited to engage in Daring Cities 2024 throughout the year, leading up to COP29, in Baku, Azerbaijan.