Climate Summit for Local Leaders: a Decisive Contribution to COP21

Right after the end of the 7^th Africities Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, the eyes of the world have turned to Paris for the COP21. Local leaders from all over of the world gathered in Paris City Hall on December 4^th, 2015 for the Climate Summit for Local Leaders at the invitation of Mayor of Paris and UCLG Co-President, Anne Hidalgo.

The meeting was convened by Michael R. Bloomberg, U.N. Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change, in partnership with the global networks of cities and local governments: C40, ICLEI and UCLG.

The local leaders who took part in this meeting issued a declaration that reaffirm their commitment to tackle climate change. In fact, the mayors, governors and local leaders who signed the Paris City Hall Declaration pledged to achieve ambitious goals to protect the environment and ensure a sustainable future, including to “implement participatory resilience strategies and action plans to adapt to the rising incidence of climate related hazards by 2020.”

The undersigned local leaders commit collectively to:

* Advance and exceed the expected goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement to be reached at COP21 to the full extent of their authorities;

* Produce and implement participatory resilience strategies and action plans to adapt to the rising incidence of climate related hazards by 2020;

* Deliver up to 3.7 gigatons of urban greenhouse gas emissions reductions annually by 2030—the equivalent of up to 30% of the difference between current national commitments and the 2 degree emissions reduction pathway identified by the scientific community;

* Support ambitious long-term climate goals such as a transition to 100% renewable energy in our communities, or an 80% greenhouse gas emissions reduction by 2050;

* Engage in partnerships among ourselves and with global organizations, national governments, the private sector, and civil society to enhance cooperation and capacity-building programs, scale-up climate change solutions, develop metrics and promote innovative finance mechanisms and investments in low-emission projects across the world.

Read the entire Paris City Hall Declaration here.

More information available at www.uclg.org