Heatwaves. Cancelled trains. School closures.
A sobering backdrop for London's biggest annual climate event.
Climate change is no longer a future threat, it's reshaping every aspect of our lives. The choices before us are becoming increasingly stark: cleaner air or poorer health, cooler classrooms or school closures, affordable energy or soaring bills, stable food prices or rising costs.
That's why this year's London Climate Action Week felt more relevant than ever.
Ten years after the Paris Agreement, the challenge is no longer ambition.
It's delivery.
And the leaders best placed to deliver are subnational governments. They are closest to communities, often first to respond to climate impacts, and uniquely positioned to scale practical solutions.
This week, more than 30 state and regional governments came together while communities across Europe endured record-breaking heat. People don't live in nations, they live in towns, cities, states and regions. Yet for too long, those voices have been underrepresented in the global climate conversation. We’re changing that.
It was a privilege to spend the week with subnational leaders discussing how to electrify economies, accelerate homegrown clean energy, reduce methane emissions, unlock climate finance and counter climate disinformation.
My four key takeaways:
1. Methane is the fastest climate win we have
Reducing methane and other super pollutants is one of the quickest ways to slow warming in the near term. It's also one of the most immediate opportunities to improve public health.
Cleaner air. Healthier communities. Faster climate action.
Up to 70% of methane emissions from the oil and gas sector can already be eliminated using proven technologies, often at low or no cost. The United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres call to accelerate methane action is a poignant reminder that we must move from commitments to implementation.
Subnational governments including Cross River, Nigeria and Maryland, US are already leading through the Subnational Methane Action Coalition.
2. Climate finance is about more than money
The clean energy transition requires investment, but the biggest barriers are not always financial.
Despite delivering up to 90% of climate implementation, states and regions receive only a fraction of global climate finance. This is a structural challenge, not a capital shortage and it can be fixed.
At #LCAW2026 together with Regions4 and Sustainable finance observatory we brought financial institutions, investors and subnational leaders together to explore how to unlock private capital for bankable climate projects at the state and regional level.
The conversation went beyond finance. It was about building capacity, strengthening financial modelling and connecting governments directly with investors.
That's exactly why the Finance Accelerator for States and Regions (FASTR) is designed to help turn ambitious climate plans into investable projects and real-world outcomes.
3. Rewriting the energy transition story
The energy crisis does not have to define the future. The next chapter can be one of affordable, secure and homegrown energy.
As we move away from fossil fuels, we must be equally clear about what we are moving towards. Electrification offers one of the clearest pathways to stronger energy security, lower costs and more resilient economies.
That's why we launched #TheBigSwitch a global initiative supporting subnational governments to accelerate clean electrification through practical, implementation-ready action.
This isn't simply climate policy. It's economic strategy.
4. Stories are our anchor. Climate action depends on it
Climate disinformation is no longer just a communications challenge. It's a governance challenge. If we fail to communicate climate action clearly and consistently, even the best policies risk losing public trust and left hanging out to dry.
That's why governors, ministers, communications experts and journalists came together this week to ask a simple question: what should we start, stop and scale?
The goal wasn't simply to diagnose the problem. It was to identify practical actions that governments can implement now to strengthen public understanding and resilience against misinformation.
Climate leadership isn't only about developing good policy. It's about earning public confidence in the transition. Watch the panel discussion on the new Under2 Coalition #SubnationalClimateActionStudio YouTube channel.
London Climate Action Week reinforced one thing above all else: the next decade of climate leadership will be defined not by new commitments, but by implementation.
Subnational governments are already showing what's possible. Now we need to match their ambition with the investment, partnerships and political will to scale these solutions worldwide.