Under2 Coalition co-chairs Governor Kim Tae-heum and First Minister Humza Yousaf joined Governors from across the world at the opening of the Local Climate Action Summit at COP28 today.
The Summit, organised by Bloomberg Philanthropies and opened by COP President Sultan al-Jaber, aimed to bring local leaders together in search of common solutions to the climate crisis. It featured speakers who are implementing new systems to cut emissions or adapt to increasingly extreme weather events.
During his speech, Sultan al-Jaber announced that 62 national governments have shown their support for integrated climate change through a new Coalition for High Ambition Multi-level Partnerships (CHAMP). The goal of this pledge is to help nations achieve Paris Agreement goals, by working with and making the most of contributions from subnational governments for planning, financing and implementing climate strategies and actions.
Welcoming the move, Climate Group Executive Director Champa Patel said:
"Time is no longer on our side if we are serious about tackling the climate crisis. We welcome the CHAMP initiative as a vital and urgent signal to all levels of government to work together on solutions. States and regions, such as those in the Under2 Coalition, are already at the frontlines of the crisis. They are seeing its devastating impacts every single day and have so much more to contribute when it comes to solutions. They must have more opportunities to do so at COP28 and beyond."
UN Special Envoy on Climate Ambition and Solutions Michael R. Bloomberg also used the event to announce a new $65 million commitment to continue his support for local climate action to reduce global emissions.