The roles of subnational actors in climate action

At the SB50, subnational actors were highlighted as relevant players in increasing ambition towards Paris Agreement goals. As a Natural Resources Manager for local government, I was glad to see this. While we should continue to encourage the US to play a leadership role in achieving Paris Agreement goals, it is increasingly being recognized that state governments, local governments, corporations, communities and individuals all have roles to play. Several side events I attended focused on subnational action.  

Advancing Ambition through Multilevel and Collaborative Climate Action

This session featured speakers from ICLEI (Local Governments for Sustainability), the NDC Partnership, International Collaboration for Climate Action (ICCA) and REN21. Here are a few of the session highlights:

·       NDC Goals would not be met without collaborative action. Member countries are increasingly requesting support for designing and implementing climate actions at subnational levels. Such vertical climate action has a strong focus on cross-sectoral activities such as waste, transportation, health, and water.

·       Challenges – regions are affected differently by climate change, local players may not have complete knowledge of the country’s NDC, regions that do not suffer visible environmental damage may not be as aware of the NDC or the need to act, local governments may face scarcity of financial resources, it can be difficult to develop regionally coherent strategies, and local authorities often have difficulties accessing climate finance.

·        Cities will play a vital role in reducing emissions, and they are the centers for innovation and job creation. Cities need funding from state and national govts. Efforts are needed to ensure we more effectively include and engage subnational governments.

·       Urban-LEDS II (Urban Low Emission Development Strategies) project in brief – integrated low emission and resilience development in more than 60 cities and towns in 8 countries from planning to implementation. Climate change and resilience can’t be separated at the local government, and sector silos (energy, waste, transportation, etc.) are artificial and work needs to occur across these sectors.

·       ICLEI is working with the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy to track subnational contributions, so they can be included in NDCs, and hopefully raise ambition.

·       Local governments often need finance for policy implementation. They receive multiple benefits including assistance with analysis (e.g., developing greenhouse gas inventories and identifying climate risks), reporting (e.g., reporting climate and emissions data, and tracking progress to assess gaps and opportunities), action (e.g., engaging with stakeholders and developing and implementing action plans and policies), and capacity building (e.g., training and sharing good practices and tools).

·       Hironori Hamanaka, Chair of ICLEI Japan, spoke of how local governments in Japan are mandated to develop plans towards climate action. The overall goal is a decarbonized society and carbon neutrality as early as possible in the second half of this century. They acknowledge the IPCC 1.5C report, and are aiming to decarbonize major sectors including energy, manufacturing, and transport by 2050. They are working to create a circular and ecological economy. Big cities such as Kyoto, Tokyo, Nagano have established their own specific goals and targets.

·        Lea Ranalder or REN21 discussed the preliminary findings of their recent Renewables in Cities Global Status Report. They consolidate renewable energy (RE) data across all sectors and strive to show that the transition to renewables is happening and at what level/pace. REN21 recently became interested in cities because half of the world’s population lives in cities, and 65% of energy demand is in cities. Cities are major players in climate change policy and are often more ambitious than their national counterparts.  Drivers for RE in cities include climate change, health, air pollution, local revenue, socioeconomic development, and energy security.  She noted that ambition translates into results – at least 100 cities worldwide use 70% or more RE. For more information: Ren21.net/cities; Cities Report - Preliminary Findings; Global Status Report

·       Audience commentary: Should we start tracking Locally Determined Contributions (LDC) that align with NDCs? It is good practice to have local government representatives within the delegation. Decentralized energy systems will be key to transition away from energy monopolies. Local governments have so much potential in heating, cooling, and transport, not just electricity.

All scales of government to achieve 100% renewables

This session featured speakers from Global100RE (go100re.net), ICLEI, WWEA, and REN21.

·       Saturday launched first Global Day for Renewable Energy in partnership with the FridaysforFuture. They are calling it World REnew Day and are aiming for events around the world in future years (Press release).

·       Working to make a goal of 100% RE the new norm.

·       NDCs should have strong local dimensions. *Pioneers are often local.*

·       Need national support schemes for local governments to improve communication, data collection, cross-level cooperation and coordination. Barriers and challenges include: knowledge gaps, extant structures and persistent notions, limited economic capacity, divergent priorities, lack of mandates, inflexibility.

·       To enhance local-national cooperation: empower local government, develop proactive policies, lead by example, use policies from around the world and modify them for local use, start small if necessary, ensure transparent data collection, set science-based targets that are achievable yet ambitious, contextualize measures and tools.

·       Thinking of developing a Climate City Cup to recognize cities for data collection in areas of air pollution, mobility, energy consumption.

·       Benefits of local RE ownership: increase in local wealth, citizens become drivers, democratic structures are strengthened. Make sure locals receive benefits, to minimize resistance.

·       Irena Coalition for Action has a White Paper on Broadening the Ownership of Renewables and another White Paper in progress on Financing Community Energy.

·       Costa Rica has 100% RE; may serve as an example for other countries.