Global Synthesis Report on local climate action

Every year since 2018, the Climate Chance Observatory has been publishing a Global Report on the climate action of local governments, a synthesis of the results posted by the main cooperation initiatives of cities and regions for the mitigation of climate change in their territories.

This edition brings together the main results posted by the networks and climate initiatives of cities and regions in 2019, 13 territorial case studies analysing the coherence of public policies of cities and regions, as well as an “Around the world in 80 initiatives” section, of the actions carried out by the territories in 10 environmental and climate public policy topics.

In 2019, local and regional authorities have demonstrated a growing technical and political contribution to global efforts to combat climate change. Cities represent a major challenge for the climate : they are at the heart of countries’ GHG emission reduction strategies.

This new Synthesis Report makes it possible to follow, decipher and “take the pulse” of the progress of the local and subnational governments’ climate action a few months before the COP26. It “tells” the story behind the numbers and thus provides a synthesis of the most recent data on local government action around the world, particularly international local government initiatives. It examines recent trends such as the adoption of carbon neutrality strategies or the increasing consideration of carbon footprints.

This Report also explores new themes that are equally important for climate action: the articulation of national, regional and local climate policies, as well as the localisation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the territories.

Finally, it is enriched by analyses of several case studies presenting innovative experiments by local and subnational local governments that are mobilised and particularly committed to the climate front, despite the pandemic: Bahia, Bogota, Dakar, Scotland, Manchester, Melbourne, Mexico City, Occitania, Ontario, Palembang, North Rhine-Westphalia, San Carlos de Bariloche, Slavutych, Strasbourg, Turin.

Find here the replays of the Climate Chance Talks organised for the launch of the Local Action Report 2021.

More than six years after the Paris Agreement, and less than two years before the Global Stocktake planned in the Article 14, the world is still not on track to limit global warming to 2°C compared to pre-industrial area, and even less to 1.5°C . It is now certain that even the Covid-19 pandemic did not stop the rise in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions: it just paused it.

Every year, in order to better understand how to set the wheels in motion for an effective and robust 1.5°C path, the Climate Chance Observatory publishes a Global Synthesis Report on Local Climate Action to track progress of climate action reported by local and regional governments (LRGs) throughout the world.

This year, the GSR on Local Climate Action is closely linked with the Climate Chance Europe Summit, organised on the 7th and 8th March in Nantes (France).