What we are doing
Every year, national governments from all over the world gather to discuss their climate goals and agendas at the United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties or “Climate COP”. The negotiations that happen in this space can sometimes feel disconnected from the realities experienced by residents living in our cities, towns and regions, who are facing the impacts and challenges of climate change every day. Initiatives like the Talanoa Dialogues in 2017, Local Stocktakes in 2023 and commitments from 75 countries to coordinate with subnational governments as part of COP28’s Coalition for High Ambition Multilevel Partnerships (CHAMP) for Climate Action Initiative have emerged to create multilevel connections.
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What we are achieving
The Town Hall COP Initiative is designed to spark meaningful dialogue on climate action within local communities, bringing together local, subnational, and national governments along with diverse partners. It provides local and regional governments with: 1) A community-centered event model that showcases local climate action in a way that informs, inspires, and mobilizes, while reflecting the unique priorities and needs of each community. 2) A strategy to connect local action to national agendas, making each event relevant not only locally but also in the context of country-level climate planning. 3) A platform to demonstrate the deep interconnections between climate action and everyday community concerns—including public health, nature, equity, consumption, affordability, jobs, and culture.
The outcomes of these events can feed directly into national climate planning processes and global climate dialogue - specifically the next round of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and the UN Climate Change Conferences (COPs) - through ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, serving as the Focal Point of the Local Governments and Municipal Authorities (LGMA) Constituency to the UNFCCC.
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