Cities and Regions at the Climate Dialogues 2020: Lessons from Côte d’Ivoire and Japan
Climate Chance, as an official observer, co-organized an event during the UN Climate DIalogues 2020 in the LGMA constituency with ICLEI on 1 December, on “Multilevel Action in Raising NDC Ambition and Redesign''.
Watch the recording of the Special Event here:
The UN Climate Change Dialogues 2020 were held from 23 November to 4 December, and gathered States (referred to as “Parties”) and non-state stakeholders to shed light on advances made in the realm of Climate in 2020, and to try and raise climate ambitions as countries update their NDCs in the run-up to the postponed COP26 in Glasgow. Within the framework of the dialogues was an initiative for observer constituencies – such as those of NGOs, Local Governments and Municipal Authorities, Business and Industry actors, and so on – to organize Special Events.
Climate Chance and ICLEI co-organize the LGMA event
Climate Chance, as an official observer, co-organized an event in the LGMA constituency with ICLEI on 1 December, on “Multilevel Action in Raising NDC Ambition and Redesign ». Building on the preamble of the Paris Agreement which recognizes the importance of engagement at all levels of government, the aim of this event was to highlight, through concrete examples from Japan and Côte d’Ivoire.
The panel was facilitated by Yunus Arikan, ICLEI, and consisted of :
- Romain Crouzet, Climate Chance
- Charlène Kouassi, Observatory of African Mobilities
- Michihiro Oi, Ministry of the Environment Japan
and was followed by exchanges with Firdaous Oussidhoum and Jean-Baptiste Buffet (UCLG), Ladislas Ngendahimana (RALGA – Rwanda), and Duncan Booker (Glasgow City Council – UK).
The Ivorian Example
Through the LGMA special event Climate Chance directly presented to an audience of State and non-State actors how non-State stakeholders can directly contribute to NDCs, as in the case of the Sustainable Mobility Roadmap for Côte d’Ivoire. The Roadmap is a project elaborated by Climate Chance and the Observatory of African Mobilities, with the Ivorian Ministry of Transport and support from the Michelin Foundation. It presents a vision for the development of greener and more efficient transport, taking into account perspectives from all the on-the-ground stakeholders.
Charléne Kouassi
« It’s been a wonderful experience for me as a person and the OMA, because we have testimony that such an approach works […]we acted as a bridge between the government and the population, and it could be role model for other countries; »
Presently, work is being done to quantify the reduction of emissions from the implementation of this roadmap, and to potentially include these in the Ivorian NDC. To keep the local actors engaged and make progress in the implementation of the Roadmap, workshops were held at the national and city levels. Cocody, Bouaké and Odienné the three chosen cities for the public consultations are also Covenant of Mayors in Sub-Saharan Africa (CoMSSA) signatory cities.
Romain Crouzet
« This coalition has created effective roadmaps for sustainable and inclusive mobility in different countries… These can help countries achieve their NDCs. [This model] is replicable across countries, and also sectors. »
The Japanese example
The Japanese case showed the importance of local action and effective collaboration between national and local government. Michihiro Oi, Ministry of the Environment Japan, explained how the increase to 177 Japanese ‘net-zero by 2050’ committed cities and prefectures is not solely linked to the severe weather events which affected many in 2019. After four Japanese cities initially declared carbon neutrality ambitions, the Minister for the Environment encouraged declarations from other local governments. As local governments plan how to realise their ambitions, the national government will work with them to provide the support needed at each step. Within this scope, Mr. Oi also announced the preparations of Ministry of Environment of Japan to convene an International Net Zero Cities from in collaboration with UNFCCC, IGES, ICLEI and other partners in early March 2021.
Updates on LGMA COP26 Roadmap ‘Towards Multilevel Action COP”
Yunus Arikan, in his capacity as the Focal Point of Local Governments and Municipal Authorities (LGMA) Constituency to the UNFCCC, summarized the vision of the LGMA COP26 Roadmap « Towards Multilevel Action COP ». He highlighted that none of the 1st NDCs are compatible with the Paris Agreement because they were all prepared before the adoption of the Paris Agreement therefore did not address key goals like multilevel action, climate neutrality and 1.5oC goals. That is why success of COP26 depends on the new and ambitious NDCs to be prepared before COP26 by all nations in collaboration with local and regional governments. « Multilevel Action COP » is the motto of LGMA COP26 Roadmap and covers 7-pillars focusing on :
- Raise ambition,
- NDC vertical integration and transparency
- Localize climate finance,
- Balanced approach in mitigation and adaptation
- Link climate to circular economy and nature,
- Amplify global climate action
- Climate Justice and Social Equity.
After his intervention, representative of LGMA COp26 Roadmap Working Group from UCLG, GCoM, RALGA as well as Glasgow City Council shared their updates and inputs towards this joint plan.