A collaborative approach to climate action and justice
The Global Green New Deal is a set of principles adopted by cities worldwide that takes a collaborative approach to climate action. It recognises that climate breakdown and inequality are interlinked challenges requiring integrated solutions, not separate responses.
Connecting climate action with social and economic justice
The Global Green New Deal acknowledges that climate, social, and economic justice can only be achieved together. A just transition ensures that the move to a zero-carbon, sustainable future creates opportunities for workers and communities, rather than leaving them behind.
C40 helps cities implement these principles by creating policies and programmes that cut emissions while delivering:
- local inclusion and employment creation
- improved health outcomes
- social and economic benefits for communities that have been historically underserved and disproportionately affected by pollution
In cities that adopt these principles, everyone will have the right to clean air, a living wage, good green jobs, and protection from extreme weather. They’ll also have access to healthy local food, a safe place to live, and green spaces to enjoy. This applies regardless of race, nationality, gender, age, sexual orientation, citizenship, disability, socio-economic status, or other status.
Building a coalition for transformative change
The Global Green New Deal coalition comprises political leaders, investors, businesses, labour unions, young people, civil society, and communities disproportionately impacted by the climate crisis and poverty. Through this collaborative approach, cities are demonstrating what inclusive climate action looks like in practice while preventing dangerous levels of global heating.
Countering climate disinformation is climate action
C40 helps cities identify disinformation and avoid communication practices that could fuel further mis- or disinformation. Cities share approaches that build trust in climate science and policy. Working together, cities can support democratic debate, create opportunities for inclusive participation, and base decisions on reliable evidence and local needs.
The principles guiding this work
Five commitments cities are making
The Global Green New Deal is built on five core principles that guide how cities implement climate action.
These principles ensure that climate action addresses the root causes of both environmental breakdown and social inequality, creating pathways for everyone to thrive:
1. Recognising the climate emergency
Acknowledging the urgent threat climate breakdown poses to communities worldwide and committing to immediate action based on scientific evidence.
2. Curbing emissions in key sectors
Targeting the sectors that contribute most to the climate crisis: transportation, buildings, and waste, with policies designed to cut emissions while improving quality of life.
3. Putting inclusive climate action at the centre
Placing equity at the heart of all urban decision-making to create thriving communities where everyone benefits from climate policies, especially the most marginalised and those most impacted by the climate crisis.
4. Building coalitions across sectors
Bringing together political leaders, businesses, unions, investors, and communities to deliver collaborative climate action, recognising that transformative change requires all voices at the table.
5. Ensuring all regions are represented
Creating solutions that reflect local contexts and needs, with particular attention to cities in the Global South where climate impacts are often most severe and resources most constrained.
Watch how cities are building coalitions and delivering climate justice
The videos below show the practical approaches cities are using to implement climate policies that address inequality.
Watch to understand how cities build coalitions, design programmes that reach marginalised communities, and collaborate with informal workers. Hear directly from the people making it happen and the communities benefiting from these approaches.
Watch our in focus series
Frequently asked questions
How did the Global Green New Deal come about, and how did C40 become involved?
The Global Green New Deal was first proposed in 2009 by the United Nations Environment Programme as part of the global response to the financial crisis, calling on governments to design stimulus packages that also addressed climate change and social inequality. A decade later, C40 mayors endorsed the vision, recognising that cities are central to delivering this transformation.
In 2019, C40 launched its Global Green New Deal initiative, bringing together mayors, unions, youth movements, and community leaders to show how inclusive, fair climate action can create thriving, zero-carbon cities around the world.
How is the Global Green New Deal different from other climate approaches?
The Global Green New Deal explicitly connects climate action with social and economic justice. Rather than treating emissions reduction, job creation, health improvement, and equity as separate goals, it recognises they are interconnected. Policies are designed from the start to deliver multiple benefits, with particular attention to communities that have faced historical disadvantages.
What does a just transition mean in practice?
A just transition ensures that all workers and communities, especially those dependent on high-carbon industries, have pathways to new opportunities as economies transform. This includes retraining programmes, income support during transitions, investment in affected regions, and involvement of workers and unions in planning new economic development. The goal is that no one is left behind as cities move away from fossil fuels.
How do cities ensure climate benefits reach everyone?
Cities prioritise investments in neighbourhoods facing the greatest climate risks and pollution burdens, involve communities in designing policies, create local jobs and skills development opportunities for all through climate programmes, track outcomes like health improvements and displacement, and establish protections to prevent climate action from driving up housing costs or forcing residents out.
Can cities afford to implement the Global Green New Deal?
Cities are finding that climate action pays for itself. Energy efficiency cuts utility bills. Public transport gives people cheaper ways to get around. Green jobs employ local workers. Climate adaptation is cheaper than rebuilding after disasters. The health improvements alone often cover the investment. Cleaner air means fewer hospital visits, which saves money for families and health systems.
How can my city get involved in the Global Green New Deal?
Cities can adopt the Global Green New Deal principles or join C40 programmes focused on just transition and equity. There, they can connect with other cities implementing similar approaches through C40 networks, like the Inclusive Climate Action Forum. They can also access tools and frameworks on the C40 Knowledge Hub.
Related
This is a platform for peer-to-peer exchange, support and learning. It connects cities with an ambition to drive policy changes and joint advocacy for the implementation of inclusive, local green new deals, a just transition and a green recovery from COVID-19.
Cities are pushing back against climate disinformation and building trust through science-based, data-driven facts and real solutions.
Cities are delivering climate action that creates employment, improves health, and addresses inequality rather than leaving people behind.
