The newly established Council includes ICLEI Vice Presidents, Mayors Piia Elo and Mohamed Sefiani, alongside other ICLEI Members, reinforcing the role of local and regional governments in global climate governance.
Leaders from ICLEI Members are taking on a leading role in the next phase of the Coalition for High Ambition Multilevel Partnerships (CHAMP), following the launch of the Coalition’s new governance structure during the Local Climate Action Summit at London Climate Action Week on 23 June.
For the first time since CHAMP was launched at COP28, cities, states and regions have been formally integrated into the Coalition’s governance through the creation of the Subnational Advisory Council. The new body will help ensure that local and regional experience directly informs CHAMP’s strategic direction, advocacy priorities and implementation efforts.
Chaired by Anne Hidalgo, former Paris Mayor who serves as Global Covenant of Mayors Global Ambassador, the Council includes ICLEI Vice Presidents Piia Elo, Mayor of Turku, Finland, and Mohamed Sefiani, Mayor of Chefchaouen, Morocco, alongside Mayor Alfredo Coro of Del Carmen, Philippines, a member of the ICLEI Global Executive Committee. Other ICLEI Members include Lord Mayor Nick Reece of Melbourne, Australia; Mayor Claudio Castro of Renca, Chile, and Governor Eduardo Leite of the State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
Since CHAMP’s launch at COP28, ICLEI has been a committed supporter of the initiative, championing multilevel action and working to ensure that cities, towns, states and regions are recognized as essential partners in designing and delivering national climate commitments.
As the focal point organization of the Local Governments and Municipal Authorities (LGMA) Constituency to the UNFCCC, ICLEI has consistently advanced stronger collaboration between national and subnational governments, including through Daring Cities.
Alongside the new Advisory Council, CHAMP also announced a new Steering Group, co-led by Brazil and Germany, with Antônio Da Costa, Chief International Advisor, Ministry of Cities, Brazil and Ulf Jaeckel, Head of International Adaptation to the Climate Change Division, BMUKN, Germany, serving as Co-Chairs, together with representatives from seven other CHAMP-endorsing countries. The Coalition also established a new Secretariat, hosted by the World Resources Institute.
In addition, CHAMP unveiled its Implementation Roadmap, a three-year strategy focused on three priorities: placing multilevel partnerships at the heart of climate governance; strengthening collaboration between national and subnational governments in the delivery of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs); and scaling up finance and investment so climate funding reaches cities, states and regions more effectively.
With 77 national endorsers and the European Union, representing around 40% of global greenhouse gas emissions, CHAMP continues to build momentum around a principle that ICLEI has long championed: Climate goals can only be achieved when all levels of government work together.
The appointment of ICLEI Members to the Coalition’s new Subnational Advisory Council further reinforces the growing recognition of local and regional governments as essential partners in delivering effective and inclusive climate action.
Read the full press release on the launch of the CHAMP Subnational Advisory Council here.