New York (September 28, 2015) – Michael R. Bloomberg, UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change, founder of Bloomberg LP and former mayor of New York City announced at Climate Week NYC today that two sub-national coalitions – the Compact of Mayors and the Compact of States and Regions – will partner to incentivize cities, states and regions to commit to ambitious climate targets and regularly report on progress.
The networks of mayors and sub-national leaders engaged in the Compact of Mayors (a global coalition of mayors and city officials committed to reduce local greenhouse gas emissions, enhance resilience to climate change and track their progress transparently) and the Compact of States and Regions (the first-ever global reporting mechanism showcasing GHG reduction contributions by state and region governments) are launching a partnership to ensure the coherence of the two initiatives and explore synergies between those different levels of government. Both initiatives share a goal of rallying local governments and leaders to set ambitious targets and make measurable progress toward reducing GHG emissions and will come into full effect after COP21, to be held in Paris, Nov. 30 – Dec. 11.
Following COP21, it is widely recognized that the non-state actor role will be crucial to accelerating the pace of emission reductions before the Paris deal comes into effect in 2020. This new collaboration is one of the first commitments announced that will continue to push that momentum forward after this winter’s negotiations.
“The Compact of Mayors is a powerful tool for driving action on climate change – and when a network of state and regional governments created their own Compact, we were both excited to team up together,” said Michael R Bloomberg, UN Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change. “State and regional governments have considerable leeway to act on their own, without requiring help or permission from national governments. That’s why we’re now creating a formal alliance between the two compacts. By aligning the data and reporting systems that help cities and states measure their work, we can show national governments just how much progress is possible.”
Québec Premier Philippe Couillard, who is co-chair of The Climate Group States & Regions Alliance, added: “As we approach COP21, we see now more than ever how critical the work of non-state actors – including these two Compacts – is to achieving our global goals of peaking emissions and making a measurable impact on climate change. Sub-national leadership by governors, premiers and mayors is fundamental to this process, and we look forward to fortifying our existing alliance with a strong partnership and collaboration with the Compact of Mayors next year.”
Both the Compact of States and Regions and the Compact of Mayors were launched at the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Summit in September of 2014. To date, these efforts have operated in loose collaboration but without any formal partnership agreement. Following COP21, founding partners from both Compacts will formalize this new partnership with the aim of deepening collaboration and exploring new areas of potential partnership.
For more information, please visit the Compact of Mayors website, and the Compact of States and Regions website.