From cabinet rooms to living rooms: the Governors’ Dialogue on Governors Island

Historically, states and regions haven’t been the first names that come to mind in climate leadership. That has changed.

Subnational governments are responsible for up to 80% of adaptation and mitigation activity. They sit exactly where implementation meets real-world impact, and where communities feel the benefits. During the world’s largest climate event, states and regions from the Under2 Coalition joined forces with the New York Climate Exchange to host the first Governors’ Dialogue on Governors Island. We set ourselves a clear challenge to take climate leadership from cabinet rooms to living rooms.

Beyond ambition, into delivery

For many subnational leaders, ambition is yesterday’s story. In this decisive decade, they are delivering. Quebec has ended oil exploration and extraction, runs on nearly 100% renewables, and is tackling the low-hanging fruit that improves lives today while building communities and economies that can withstand shocks. In Yucatán, Mexico, through the Future Fund, Indigenous Mayan women are taking charge of their own water systems.

This is the level of government closest to people’s homes, where climate action means lower energy bills, cleaner air and smoother public transport.

Recognizing the critical role of Subnationals in climate leadership, we launched the Governors’ Climate Leadership Dialogue at Climate Week NYC.

On Thursday, September 24, two dozen subnational government leaders sat around a table in a gallery on Governors Island, a short ferry ride from lower Manhattan where so many climate decisions are made.

Three lessons from Governors Island

• Make it tangible. From Illinois to Quebec, leaders are tying climate action to affordability, jobs, energy security and quality of life. People need to see what’s in it for them and have a hand in shaping the transition rather than being told about it.
• Earn trust. Disinformation, differing public attitudes and resistance to change are real obstacles. Wales is using social research to understand where different groups are starting from. Catalonia is bringing farmers, fishers and local communities into its renewable energy plans. Transparency and visible progress are non-negotiable.
• Put equity at the center. Climate action must deliver for the communities most exposed to climate impacts. And climate finance must trickle down to subnational governments. That commitment will shape the Under2 Coalitions Subnational Investment Forum at COP31 in Turkey, where the overwhelming focus will be on emerging economies.

What’s next

Delivering climate action is as much a communications and social science challenge as a policy one. The Under2 Coalition, whose members represent roughly one in eight people worldwide, is built to meet it. We help regional governments learn from one another, sharing what works, and make the movement more resilient.

And this is only the beginning. Our ambition is to make the Governors’ Dialogue an annual fixture in New York, with The Exchange’s campus on Governors Island as its home. After all, is there a more appropriate space for governors and regional leaders to compare notes, build alliances and turn commitments into results year after year?

The transition is already happening. Our job, not only during Climate Week but year-round, is to make sure people can see it, feel it and shape it from their own living rooms.