Global Climate Networks Promoting Subnational Government Initiatives

When it comes to tackling climate change, national governments often grab the headlines. But behind the scenes, a powerful network of subnational governments-cities, states, provinces, and regions-are driving transformative climate action through collaborative networks. These partnerships allow local leaders to share knowledge, access funding, and implement solutions that national negotiations often fail to deliver.

The Mexico City Pact: a global commitment from city mayors 🔗

On 21 November 2010, 138 city mayors from developed and developing countries signed the Global Cities Covenant on Climate, known as the Mexico City Pact. This groundbreaking agreement established a framework for cities to take voluntary but verifiable action on climate change, independent of their national governments.

The Pact consists of two core components. The first outlines why cities are strategically important for addressing global warming-urban areas produce the majority of greenhouse gas emissions while also being highly vulnerable to climate impacts. The second component establishes ten voluntary commitments for participating cities, including developing emissions inventories, implementing local mitigation measures, and promoting climate-friendly building codes.

The carbonn Cities Climate Registry 🔗

A central innovation of the Mexico City Pact is the carbonn Cities Climate Registry (cCCR), operated by Germany’s Bonn Center for Local Climate Action and Reporting. This registry creates uniformity in reporting urban greenhouse gas emissions while tracking local climate projects. The cCCR represents the global response of local governments to measurable, reportable, and verifiable climate action.

City residents can track their municipality’s performance and compare results against other participating cities worldwide. The registry has enabled direct access to international funding for local climate initiatives-a critical feature since many cities previously struggled to secure resources that typically flowed through national governments.

European urban climate initiatives 🔗

European cities have demonstrated remarkable commitment to climate action. The EU Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy, launched by the European Commission in 2008, has grown to include over 10,500 local authorities voluntarily committed to the EU’s energy and climate targets. This represents the largest movement of local governments in Europe acting on climate change.

Signatory cities pledge to reduce CO2 emissions by at least 40% by 2030 and increase their resilience to climate impacts. Each city develops a Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan outlining specific measures for their territory, creating a standardized framework for comparing progress across municipalities.

Basel’s green roof revolution 🔗

Basel, Switzerland demonstrates how building regulations can drive environmental transformation. In 2002, the city amended its Building and Construction Law to require green roofs on all new and renovated flat-roofed buildings. This made Basel the first city globally to make green spaces a legal requirement on new constructions.

The programme was funded innovatively through an Energy Saving Fund, which collects 5% of all customers’ energy bills in the Basel canton. Today, Basel has more than one million square metres of green roofs-the highest green roof area per capita in the world, at 5.71 square metres per inhabitant. The green roofs provide multiple benefits: absorbing rainwater, reducing urban heat island effects, creating biodiversity habitats, and improving building insulation.

ICLEI: local governments for sustainability 🔗

ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability was founded in September 1990 when over 200 local governments from 43 countries gathered at the United Nations in New York for the World Congress of Local Governments for a Sustainable Future. Originally named the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives, the organization has grown to include more than 2,500 cities, towns, and regions in over 125 countries.

The founding came from a recognition that sustainable development requires decentralized, community-driven efforts. In 1989, local government leaders met with atmospheric scientists to discuss ozone layer depletion and pledged to establish local laws phasing out harmful chemicals-demonstrating how local action could address global environmental problems.

Five development pathways 🔗

ICLEI supports members through five integrated development pathways: zero-emission development focusing on low-carbon energy and transport; nature-based solutions for biodiversity and ecosystem restoration; equitable development addressing social justice in climate action; resilient development building adaptive capacity; and circular development promoting resource efficiency and waste reduction.

This integrated approach recognises that climate action cannot succeed in isolation from broader sustainability goals. ICLEI’s Cities for Climate Protection Campaign, launched in 1993, became the first and largest programme globally designed to support cities in climate action planning using a five-milestone process.

C40 Cities: megacities leading the way 🔗

In October 2005, then-Mayor of London Ken Livingstone convened representatives from 18 megacities to forge an agreement on cooperatively reducing climate pollution, creating what became known as the C20. The following year, the C40 Steering Committee invited 22 additional mayors to join, ensuring representation from the Global South and creating the organisation we now know as C40.

A pivotal moment came in 2006 when President Bill Clinton’s Climate Initiative became C40’s implementing partner, providing infrastructure and resources for world-class carbon reduction projects. In 2011, a formal merger between C40 and the Clinton Climate Initiative’s Cities Program created a preeminent global climate action organisation.

Growing impact and membership 🔗

Today, C40 connects 97 of the world’s largest and most influential cities across 51 countries, representing around 920 million people and 23% of the global economy. Member cities commit to science-based emissions reduction targets aligned with limiting global warming to 1.5°C, aiming to halve collective emissions by 2030 and achieve net-zero by 2050.

The network has delivered over 1,200 transformative climate policies across waste management, buildings, energy, and transport sectors. C40 cities serve as laboratories for innovation, sharing best practices that can be replicated globally-from renewable energy deployment to sustainable transport systems.

Governors’ Climate and Forests Task Force 🔗

In 2008, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California convened nine governors from Brazil, Indonesia, and the United States at the Governors’ Climate Change Summit in Los Angeles. These leaders recognised that curbing tropical deforestation was essential for addressing climate change and signed a landmark memorandum of understanding on climate and forests cooperation.

The founding members included the US states of California, Illinois, and Wisconsin alongside Brazilian states of Amapá, Amazonas, Mato Grosso, and Pará, plus Indonesian provinces of Aceh and Papua. This coalition has since grown to 45 member states and provinces across 11 countries, covering more than one-third of the world’s tropical forests.

Jurisdiction-wide approach 🔗

What distinguishes the Governors’ Climate and Forests Task Force is its emphasis on jurisdiction-wide rather than project-based approaches to reducing emissions from deforestation and land use (REDD+). This means working with entire state governments to develop comprehensive policies rather than isolated conservation projects.

Members formalised their commitment in 2014 through the Rio Branco Declaration, pledging to reduce deforestation by 80% through partnerships with private sector initiatives that leverage jurisdictional programmes. The Task Force’s secretariat is based at UCLA School of Law, providing research assistance and strategy support to member jurisdictions.

Under2 Coalition 🔗

The Under2 Coalition originated as a memorandum of understanding signed by twelve founding jurisdictions on 19 May 2015 in Sacramento, California. Conceived through partnership between California and Baden-Württemberg, Germany, the coalition takes its name from dual objectives: limiting global warming to well below 2°C and achieving per capita emissions under 2 metric tonnes by 2050.

The coalition has grown to represent over 270 governments totalling more than 50% of global GDP. These states, regions, and provinces commit to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 at the latest. Climate Group serves as the coalition’s secretariat, supporting members through four workstreams focused on pathways development, policy innovation, regionalisation, and accountability.

The Bio Bus project in Santa Fe, Argentina 🔗

The Argentine province of Santa Fe exemplifies practical subnational climate innovation through its Bio Bus programme. This initiative migrates public transport fleets to biodiesel and solar energy, creating what the province calls a “triple impact”: economic, social, and environmental benefits.

The Bio Bus Solar experience powers trolleybus lines K and Q in Rosario entirely with electricity generated from the provincial photovoltaic park in San Lorenzo. This made Rosario the first city in Latin America to operate public transport with 100% solar-generated electricity, achieving zero toxic gas emissions. The province has also tested buses running on 100% biodiesel (B100) using next-generation Euro 5 engines.

Action on Climate Today in South Asia 🔗

Action on Climate Today (ACT) was a five-year initiative funded by the UK Department for International Development that worked with governments across South Asia to integrate climate change into policies, plans, and budgets. ACT provided technical support to 11 governments, including five national governments and six subnational governments in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, and Indian states.

In India, ACT partnered with the states of Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Maharashtra, and Odisha. The programme helped these governments access climate finance and develop capacity for implementing climate-resilient development strategies at every level of governance.

Kerala’s grassroots climate action 🔗

Kerala has emerged as a leader in localising climate action. The state formulated its State Action Plan on Climate Change, which identifies vulnerable districts and implements sector-specific mitigation strategies. The Kerala Panchayat Building Rules require rooftop solar installations in new buildings exceeding 500 square metres, mandating that they generate minimum 5% of connected load from solar energy.

Particularly innovative is Kerala’s work at the gram panchayat level-the lowest tier of local government. Over 217 local self-government bodies along the Pampa river basin have developed Local Action Plans on Climate Change, organised through the Kerala Institute of Local Administration. This bottom-up approach trains elected representatives and community organisations to develop climate-resilient strategies appropriate for their specific contexts.

The power of subnational networks 🔗

These climate networks share common characteristics that explain their effectiveness. First, they enable peer learning-cities and states facing similar challenges can adapt proven solutions rather than starting from scratch. Second, they provide political cover for ambitious action, allowing local leaders to demonstrate they are part of a global movement rather than acting alone. Third, they create direct pathways to international funding that might otherwise flow only through national governments.

Perhaps most importantly, subnational networks demonstrate that waiting for national governments or international agreements is not the only option. When national action stalls, cities, states, and regions can continue advancing climate solutions. As one former mayor put it, while nations talk, cities act.

What do you think? How might your local government benefit from joining an international climate network? What barriers prevent more subnational governments from participating in these collaborative initiatives?

References

1. https://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/11/22/world.mayor.summit.review/index.html
2. https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/partnership/?p=220
3. https://eu-mayors.ec.europa.eu/en/home
4. https://climate-adapt.eea.europa.eu/en/metadata/case-studies/green-roofs-in-basel-switzerland-combining-mitigation-and-adaptation-measures-1
5. https://iclei.org
6. https://icleiusa.org/
7. https://www.c40.org/about-c40/our-history/
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C40_Cities_Climate_Leadership_Group
9. https://www.gcftf.org/who-we-are/history/
10. https://law.ucla.edu/academics/centers/emmett-institute-climate-change-environment/governors-climate-and-forests-task-force
11. https://www.climateandforests-undp.org/initiative/gcf-task-force
12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Under2_Coalition
13. https://www.theclimategroup.org/under2-coalition
14. http://www.energiamodelosantafe.com.ar/articulos/bio-bus
15. https://puntobiz.com.ar/agro/2018-11-8-5-0-0-santa-fe-migrara-todo-el-transporte-publico-a-biodiesel-y-va-por-la-energia-solar
16. https://www.preventionweb.net/organization/action-climate-today
17. https://www.cseindia.org/kerala-s-action-plan-to-combat-climate-change-11590
18. https://medium.com/@koushikyanamandram/why-state-local-action-plan-on-climate-change-matters-the-most-c30e8600ece9