Pioneering inclusive city climate action
In 2019, C40 mayors launched the Global Green New Deal, a commitment to put inclusive climate action at the heart of all city decision-making. The Global Green New Deal Pilot Initiative, delivered in partnership with Open Society Foundations, put that commitment into practice in cities around the world.
Between 2021 and 2025, C40 worked with 10 cities across five regions to demonstrate what a Green New Deal looks like at the city level. The initiative supported mayors to deliver climate action that also addressed inequality, created good, green jobs, and built coalitions with workers, young people, and local communities.
What the initiative delivered
The partnership
- Provided cities with informed guidance and assistance to accelerate the inclusive and equitable implementation of their climate action plans and sectoral commitments. It also supported wider peer-to-peer learning between cities.
- Supported mayors in putting inclusive climate action at the heart of urban decision-making.
- Showcased the results to spread success to cities worldwide and influence the global narrative on climate leadership and COVID-19 recovery.
- Supported mayors to provide political leadership to compel the adoption of more ambitious and equitable climate action and nurture cross-sectoral coalitions.
- Built active coalitions, including mayors, climate movements, organised labour, youth activists and businesses, that have driven the economic and social changes needed to advance the g
How the programme worked
To achieve these aims, the programme focused on the following activities:
- Provided deep-dive support in a series of pilot cities, including Los Angeles, Barcelona, Warsaw, Accra, Bangalore, and five South African cities, to address critical socio-economic challenges resulting in successful working modules for transformational change at the urban level.
- Provided direct support (training, policy analysis, technical assistance, coalition building and civil society alignment, communication and public engagement) to achieve key identified goals for delivering inclusive climate action at the city level.
- The 10 pilots also worked closely with a broader cohort of C40 peer cities. Together, the pilot and peer cities worked collaboratively to drive a co-learning process on a specific area of inclusive climate action relevant to the Global Green New Deal and emerging from the 10 pilots.
- Convened and collaborated with key partners, including the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), its Just Transition Centre, and regional and national unions. This work has elevated the importance of subnational actors in translating the principles of a Global Green New Deal into practice and enhancing the delivery of inclusive climate action on the ground.
- Strengthened collaboration across local, regional, and global levels, helping cities engage more effectively in wider climate and green recovery conversations.
Watch how cities put it into practice
- Accra developed a new approach to involving the informal sector in climate action, initially in the waste sector.
- Bangalore pioneered participatory approaches and trained frontline waste workers and city officials to deliver climate priorities through inclusive, sustainable waste management.
- Barcelona strengthened equity-led climate programmes that increased the climate resilience of vulnerable populations and reduced energy poverty.
- Cape Town, Durban (eThekwini), Ekurhuleni, Johannesburg and Tshwane worked collectively to strengthen skills, knowledge and capacity on just transition for action at the city level.
- Los Angeles worked collaboratively with civil society and key stakeholders on a just transition for the city and the creation of green jobs.
- Warsaw developed a new programme to address indoor air quality and energy poverty for low-income groups, and built a local urban coalition with key stakeholders to further city climate action.
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Global Green New Deal – Outcomes Report
Published August 2023
Learn about the pilot project outcomes and city actions in the full Outcomes Report.
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