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Driving
the Day
Momentum
is visible on every continent. Bogotá
received the Earthshot Prize
last week after slashing air pollution by 24%.
Amsterdam’s Heat Transition
Vision
is shifting existing buildings away from fossil
gas heating by 2040, while Quezon
City
is deploying e-vehicles expected to eliminate
nearly all PM2.5 and NOx emissions by the end of
2025.
“I
have not found any mayor who regrets going too
fast [on climate action] and I don't know any city
that's moving backwards,” said Eric
Garcetti, former mayor of Los Angeles and C40’s
ambassador for global climate diplomacy.
“Because when your people are choking on air
pollution or are looking for quieter buses that
emit less, they don’t care where you are on the
political spectrum – they want you to find
solutions for their health and security.”
And
yet despite the commitment of local leaders, the
scale of need is enormous. Developing-country
cities alone will require over USD 147 billion
annually for adaptation by 2030. Nearly 44% of all
carbon pricing mechanisms operate
at subnational level, yet the bulk of climate
finance still flows through national channels.
Here
is a look at the top announcements from
subnationals at COP30.
From
Local to Global: Governance Model Unlocks Finance
for Local Climate Action
A
first-of-its-kind governance framework launched
today by the Coalition for High-Ambition
Multilevel Partnerships (CHAMP) is set to make
collaboration between national and local
governments a core part of delivering the Paris
Agreement.
With
the recent
endorsement of the European Union,
CHAMP now counts 78 members – the largest
coordinated COP Presidency-led effort to boost
collaboration between national and subnational
governments, linking political commitment,
institutional reform, and access to
finance.
Brazil
and Germany will co-chair CHAMP until 2027,
kickstarting its shift from political commitment
at COP 28 to practical delivery – and towards the
following goals by 2028:
- 100
national climate strategies
will include multilevel governance structures
and mechanisms, rising to 120 by 2030.
Currently, four out
of five of
the 64 NDCs submitted ahead of COP 30
specifically mention subnational governments – a
19% increase over previous plans. About
two-thirds explicitly include them as partners
in planning, implementing, and monitoring
climate action.
- At
least five
annual CHAMP
convenings will foster knowledge-sharing between
national local and regional governments.
- 6,000
public officials and practitioners will be
trained
through ongoing multilevel governance and
climate action programmes around the
world.
According
to Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary of the
UNFCCC: “CHAMP must now become part of how every
country prepares and implements its climate plan –
aligning national vision with local
execution…National governments commit to big
infrastructure projects but local leaders want to
see shovels in the ground.”
Why
this matters:
Local
governments don’t just implement — they regulate,
plan, tax, and mobilize capital. They also
directly work on key sectors like transport,
buildings, waste, and energy systems that account
for the majority of global emissions. According to
78 CHAMP nations, stronger collaboration with
subnational governments could close 40% of the
emissions gap between current plans and a
Paris-aligned pathway.
New
Announcements Build the Foundations for
International Cooperation on Sustainable
Buildings
A
wave of announcements land today accelerating the
transition toward Near-Zero Emission and Resilient
Buildings (NZERBs) and responsible construction –
as ministers meet for COP 30’s Intergovernmental Council for
Buildings and Climate.
Delivered
under the Buildings
Breakthrough,
these announcements lay the foundations for
stronger international cooperation, helping
countries align standards, finance, and materials
in the global race to decarbonise the built
environment.
New
progress includes:
- A
common global language for buildings has now
been established — defining shared principles
for sustainable and resilient construction,
enabling countries to exchange data and best
practices more effectively. Six countries —
Finland, Ghana, Kenya, Colombia, and two
additional partners to be announced — have
endorsed the new Global Framework for Action on
Public Procurement, embedding sustainability and
circularity in government purchasing.
- Complementing
these efforts, more than 300 industry leaders
and governments — including Canada, Costa Rica,
France, Switzerland, and the UK — have united
behind the Principles for Responsible Timber
Construction, a first-of-its-kind framework
embedding sustainably sourced wood into building
codes, procurement, and investment frameworks
worldwide. Substituting carbon-intensive
materials like concrete and steel with
responsibly sourced timber could cut lifecycle
emissions by up to 60%, according to a UK
study
— and, beyond slashing emissions, sustainable
wood construction can also protect forests,
create jobs, and meet rising housing
needs.
- 162
companies, cities, and regions — covering 25,000
buildings and USD 400 billion in annual turnover
— announced that they cut over 850,000 tonnes of
CO₂ in 2024 through the WorldGBC
Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment,
surpassing 1 million tonnes reduced in total.
More than half have lowered emissions intensity
and nearly 60% report lower energy use, proving
that clear targets drive real, scalable
impact.
Why
this matters:
Buildings
account for over a third of
global energy-related CO₂ emissions
— and the global built floor area is projected to
double by 2060, especially in developing
countries. The scale of transformation required is
immense, and cooperation across borders is
essential to make progress faster, fairer, and
more coordinated.
By
strengthening countries’ ability to exchange
knowledge, information, and data — and by
improving how capital flows into the sector —
these new initiatives promise to transform how
buildings are designed, financed, and
delivered.
Turning
Waste Into Climate Action
A
new global effort launched today to tackle one of
the fastest-growing sources of methane: organic
waste. The No Organic Waste (NOW) Partnership for
Accelerated Solutions commits to cutting 30% of
methane emissions from organic waste (a short-term
pollutant) by 2030, while transforming discarded
food into climate action, nutrition, and
livelihoods. Currently, food loss and waste
generate 8-10% of
global greenhouse gas
emissions, almost five times the total emissions
from the aviation sector. Additionally, global
households waste one
billion meals
of edible food every day, while 783 million people
go hungry, with economic losses equivalent
to 1 trillion USD.
Backed
by USD 1 billion in blended finance, NOW will
recover 20
million tonnes of surplus food each year, feed 50
million people, and formally integrate 1 million
waste workers into the circular
economy.
Already, 25 cities across 18 countries have
engaged, implementing methane-reduction targets.
The initiative’s next phase will scale city
pilots, composting hubs, and foodbank networks. It
will also document impact to inform national
strategies and donor engagement.
Why
this matters:
NOW combines climate action
with social impact. By turning food into
bio-resource for communities, the initiative
reduces emissions while creating green jobs and
improving access to food through
redistribution. Verified
reductions in methane emissions will also unlock
new funding opportunities such as access to
SDG-linked loans and climate finance under Article
6 of the Paris Agreement, helping cities and
countries scale their efforts.
Greening
Cities to Beat the Heat: A Global Plan for Urban
Climate Resilience
As
record-breaking temperatures push cities to their
limits, a new global effort is taking action to
cool urban areas and protect vulnerable
communities. Greening
Cities to Beat the Heat,
a flagship initiative co-led by UNEP
and the COP
30 Presidency,
is launching the ‘Beat
the Heat Implementation Drive’
— a coordinated push to help cities adapt to
extreme heat through nature-based
solutions and urban forestry.
The
plan will support over 150
cities
in developing local
heat action and greening plans,
reducing heat risks for 3.5
billion people by 2030.
It will also embed cooling strategies into
50
national adaptation frameworks,
ensuring that climate resilience becomes a
cornerstone of-term urban planning.
Why
this matters:
From
expanding urban tree cover and restoring wetlands
to creating shaded public spaces and green roofs,
this effort strengthens collaboration between
national and local governments – promoting equity,
public health, and climate resilience where it’s
needed
most. |
