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Town Hall COPs: Connecting climate action at all levels

What if your community could connect to all levels of climate action — from right where you live?

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Participants in Kampala's youth-led local stocktake in 2023
Connecting climate action at all levels

What is a Town Hall COP?

Town Hall COPs are community-led climate dialogues designed to bring global climate goals home. Inspired by the structure of international UN Climate Change Conferences (COPs), these local events create an inclusive space to:

  • Review local climate progress
  • Align with national climate goals
  • Identify actions that address real community priorities like health, justice, jobs, and nature

By connecting grassroots conversations to national climate plans (NDCs) and international processes like COP30, Town Hall COPs ensure that local voices shape global action.

Ready to get started? Register your Town Hall COP today!

Register

Every Town Hall COP shares three fundamental principles

  • Community-led The Town Hall COP model is built around the needs and priorities of each community and can be adapted to fit local goals.
  • Nationally relevant Town Hall COPs are a chance for communities to make sure their voices and priorities are included in national plans and implementation. The insights and outcomes from Town Hall COPs can directly inform national plans, support relevant efforts such as COP28 Coalition for High Ambition Multilevel Partnership for Climate Action Initiative (CHAMP), and feed into global climate discussions.
  • Transformation-oriented Town Hall COPs should highlight the real-world and daily-life connections between climate action and essential community priorities, like health, nature, justice, consumption affordability, jobs, and culture at the local level.

In 2025, as countries develop their national climate plans, integrating local leadership and solutions will be essential. Engagement platforms that bring climate conversations and consultations to cities, towns, and regions can empower local governments to shape national climate strategies that reflect their communities’ needs.

Simon Stiell | Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention

Attendees facing the podium at the Sydney Town Hall COP
Connect your community

Why should you host a Town Hall COP?

The Town Hall COP model is built around the needs and priorities of each community and can be adapted to fit local goals. For example, a Town Hall COP can:

  • Showcase climate leadership by highlighting local innovation and commitment.
  • Build partnerships across sectors and levels of government.
  • Strengthen local-national collaboration, especially ahead of countries submitting their next national climate plans (NDC 3.0) for COP30.
  • Ensure inclusivity by giving voice to underrepresented communities and addressing real needs.
  • Access support – ICLEI offers toolkits, guidance, and up to 2,000 EUR in grant funding to qualifying hosts.

Hosting a Town Hall COP isn’t just about one event—it’s about building momentum, setting priorities, and making climate action more relevant, accessible, and impactful for your community.

Get the toolkit

We've got everything you need to host a Town Hall COP

Our Town Hall COP toolkit offers step-by-step guidance to support an inclusive and impactful event. The toolkit help you plan, host, and follow up on your own Town Hall COP — a locally-led, nationally-relevant, and transformation-oriented dialogue that connects residents, local leaders, and national governments in meaningful, action-driven conversation. We offer inspiration from other Town Hall COPs and similar events, as well as guidelines for holding sustainable and equitable events.

Get the toolkit
Town Hall COP logo

Position your city as a climate leader and strengthen your community’s voice

Hosting a Town Hall COP puts your city at the center of national and global climate discussions. It’s a strategic opportunity to showcase your leadership, align your work with national climate goals, and influence the next round of national commitments (NDC 3.0) ahead of COP30.

These events are about listening and engaging—not just informing. Town Hall COPs help you build stronger relationships with residents, community organizations, businesses, and other stakeholders through an inclusive and empowering format.

Watch

How do you host a Town Hall COP?

  • You will need to select a tentative date for your Town Hall COP to register; we recommend scheduling your 2025 Town Hall COP between April and September. Registration opens 22 April 2025.

  • Identify local, sub-national and national stakeholders to invite.

  • When you register your Town Hall COP, you’ll receive a toolkit to help you host a successful event. The goals of your gathering may differ depending on how advanced your climate action already is, so we encourage you to make your Town Hall COP your own.

  • Educate participants on existing strategies and discuss future priorities.

  • Share outputs and outcomes with your national government, ICLEI and share back to your local community members and stakeholders.

  • ICLEI will bring outcomes via the LGMA Constituency to the UNFCCC at the COP30 Cities and Regions Hub.

FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions about Town Hall COPs

  • My community is hosting a similar event. Can we join the Town Hall COP Initiative?

    Yes! The Town Hall COP Initiative is inclusive, understanding that local climate meetings can take many forms. Whether you call it a “mini-COP,” “City Climate Summit” or another term, we welcome you to register your event under the Town Hall COP Initiative.

  • Who can organize a Town Hall COP?

    While local governments typically take the lead, community groups, universities, and other organizations can also initiate and organize these events. The Kampala youth-led local stocktake, for example, was organized primarily by youth groups with minimal municipal support.

    However, the Town Hall COP model is designed to reflect the priorities and needs of the hosting community, therefore we encourage you to partner with your local government, community groups, universities, business networks, and other relevant stakeholders.

  • Does my event have to be called a “Town Hall COP”?

    You can brand your event whatever name will resonate the most in your community. Other ideas include:
    - Climate action town hall
    - Community climate convention
    - Community climate summit
    - Community climate conversation

  • Are there funds available to support the implementation of our Town Hall COP?

    Yes, ICLEI is committed to supporting communities from the Global South to organize and implement a Town Hall COP with the provision of a 2,000 EUR (two thousand Euro) grant. Please register your intent to organize a Town Hall COP and receive the list of criteria that must be fulfilled to be eligible for the grant.

  • How long should a Town Hall COP last?

    A Town Hall COP should be as long as it needs to be to fully accomplish your goals. We imagine that the events will last at least three hours but could extend into a multi-day event depending on the priorities and stakeholders involved in the event.

  • Can I hold an online Town Hall COP?

    While hybrid options may be important to accessibility, we encourage you to hold your Town Hall COP as an in-person event, to encourage connection, conversation and empathy between participants.

Questions?

Registration for Town Hall COPs is now open. If you have questions about hosting a Town Hall COPs, contact us at townhallCOPs@iclei.org with your inquiry.

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