There is no time to lose. The EU must bring multilevel governance home to implement COP28 outcomes, Goksen Sahin from ICLEI Europe argues
Climate negotiations in Dubai at COP28 have been unprecedented in many ways, from securing agreement on the Loss and Damage Financing Mechanism on its first day to paving the way for ending the fossil fuel era. Among others, one of the most notable aspects of COP28 was the role that subnational-level governments played throughout the two weeks.
The COP28 Presidency and Bloomberg Philanthropies hosted the first-ever Local Climate Action Summit, where over 300 subnational leaders came together with their national governments to discuss the implementation of the Paris Agreement plus the role of cities and regions in transforming climate finance, fast-tracking the energy transition, and strengthening resilience and adaptation at the local level.
While a similar Summit was organised alongside COP21 in Paris, this was the first time such an event was an official part of the COP, even co-hosted by the COP28 Presidency.
At the Local Climate Action Summit, the Coalition for High Ambition Multilevel Partnerships (CHAMP), currently signed by 71 countries, covering 58% of global GDP, was launched.
This was a ground-breaking moment as by signing onto CHAMP, national governments formally committed to enhancing cooperation with cities and regions, especially regarding the revision of their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), where countries have outlined how they plan to meet the objectives of the Paris Agreement, which will keep global temperature increase to no more than 1.5 °C by 2025.
The Local Climate Action Summit was followed by a Ministerial Meeting on Urbanization and Climate Change, where their joint outcome statement encouraged all parties to consider outcomes related to multilevel action in the final negotiated decisions coming out of COP28.
This incredible momentum, spearheaded by the COP28 Presidency, has also made its way into the final COP28 outcome texts. While the Global Stocktake document “urges Parties and non-Party stakeholders to join efforts to accelerate delivery through inclusive, multilevel, gender-responsive and cooperative action”; the Global Goal on Adaptation outcome highlights the importance of local approaches and local knowledge in addressing the adaptation and recognises the role of cities and regions in delivering successful adaptation measures. Finally, the Loss and Damage outcome foresees direct financing to subnational governments.
These are critical moments recognising the role that cities and regions play as first responders to extreme weather events and as primary drivers of sustainability agendas -that are usually by far outpacing national ambitions.
Implementing CHAMP in the EU
It is now time to bring these developments back home to Europe and to start thinking about what it means to implement CHAMP in the European Union (EU)
Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, and Portugal have already signed the CHAMP pledge. Countries like Germany and France brought both national and subnational government representatives to the Urbanisation Ministerial, underlining the importance they place on a multilevel governance approach. European Commission Executive Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič announced the EU’s support for the principles of the CHAMP, based on how CHAMP aligns with the European Union’s negotiation mandate, which recognised for the first time the need to include cities and regions in developing and implementing climate and energy plans.
“Collaborative climate action, coordinated between national and subnational governments, plays a pivotal role in achieving emissions reduction, building resilience, and mitigating severe climate impacts. The European Commission is encouraged by the significant contributions of non-Party stakeholders, including cities, towns, states, and regions, to the Paris Agreement process,” Vice-President Šefčovič added.
“The European Commission will continue engaging with CHAMP supporters. We work collaboratively with Member States of the European Union and subnational governments to enhance cooperation to accelerate climate action for the implementation of our Nationally Determined Contributions,” Vice-President Šefčovič continued. (1)
Delivering COP28 outcomes via the CHAMP pledge
These signals must now turn into concrete actions. EU Member States must start implementing the CHAMP pledge to deliver COP28 outcomes – there is no time to lose
On 18th December 2023, the European Commission published its assessment of Member States’ updated draft National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs). This assessment aimed at analysing whether EU countries’ targets, policies, and strategies add up for the EU to
reach its overall climate targets showed a clear gap in achieving EU-wide targets: with the current national plans, Member States reach 51% emission reductions by 2030, which is 4% lower than our 2030 objective enshrined in the EU Climate Law.
Additionally, Member States’ renewable energy and energy efficiency targets are also falling short of achieving EU-level binding targets. These gaps could have already been closed if Member States had worked more closely with their cities and regions to plan and implement the 2030 EU climate and energy targets, set thanks to the EU Green Deal.
Currently, subnational actions like Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plans created under the Covenant of Mayors, Climate City Contracts and Action Plans that are part of the Climate-neutral Cities Mission, and Local Green Deals guided by the Intelligent Cities Challenge are not included in Member States’ NECPs. Including them in NECPs would not only provide support and encouragement for subnational action, but also help Member States achieve their national-level targets and better plan the funding allocations at the national and subnational level.
In fact, not only are local plans not part of NECPs, but civil society reports on the draft NECPs and city networks’ assessments show that multilevel climate and energy dialogues – foreseen by the EU Governance Regulation Article 11 – do not happen in a structured or systemic way.
If we want EU Member States to take a systematic approach to achieving the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C objective, then all need to sign on to the CHAMP pledge and move towards a multilevel governance approach.
COP28 outcomes and worldwide changes for climate regulation
In 2024, the European Commission is expected to review and potentially revise the EU Governance Regulation. This revision is an outstanding opportunity to ensure an EU-wide, structured, and systemic multilevel governance approach that puts the CHAMP pledge in motion.
Europe has shown its leadership at COP28 to put the world on track to transition away from fossil fuels, set global renewable and energy efficiency targets, and support multilevel governance through CHAMP. Now, it is time to deliver at home.
Reference
1. https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/statement_23_6262
