CoAct Database

Cities and Regions’ 5-year vision

With our varying responsibilities and capabilities, we collectively commit to support local and regional climate action by further deploying resources by 2020. We recognise that investments in low-emission and climate-resilient urban infrastructure and services are now essential to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions and to reduce the risk of harmful climate impacts locally, while simultaneously delivering significant social and economic benefits such as job creation, resource efficiency and public health gains.

To accelerate long term climate action, we agree to work altogether, in accordance with our respective mandates, towards four key objectives by 2020:

1. To increase the scale and number of cities and regions’ climate action and plans to reduce emissions from high-emitting sectors and enhance adaptation to climate change. Specifically:
   o Coverage should include diverse local and regional contexts across all continents;
   o Ambition will be set with a view to contribute to a below 2°C pathway;
   o Special emphasis will be placed on the metropolitan areas facing rapid urbanisation to leverage their capacity to design and implement ambitious resilient, resource efficient and low carbon planning strategies.

2. To build climate resilience in as many cities and regions as possible with special attention paid to the most vulnerable cities, regions and populations;

3. To scale up financing for local and regional investments; Specifically: o Accelerate financial support to local integrated policies, infrastructure strategies and programmes towards climate mitigation and resilience across all continents; o Improve access to sustainable finance for cities and regions.

4. To reinforce action-oriented dialogue, partnerships and new policies between all levels of government (national, regional, provincial, urban and community-levels). Specifically:
   o Promote the scaling-up and acceleration of relevant subnational sectorial alliances; o Develop new multi-level international partnerships; o Enhance national government participation in existing international initiatives; o Support the exchange of knowledge and technology transfer between cities and regions around the world, including through decentralised cooperation.