The Integrity Matters for Cities, States, and Regions report, created by a dedicated Expert Group convened by the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy (GCoM) and WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities, serves as a follow-up to the flagship HLEG Integrity Matters report launched last year at COP27. It outlines recommendations for subnational governments to ensure the credibility, accountability, and transparency of their net zero commitments while acknowledging their varied capacities and characteristics.

The report aims to: 

• Apply the original Integrity Matters recommendations with a subnational government context to retain the strong foundation for credibility, transparency and accountability while accounting for variation in local government knowledge, resource, and capacity;
• Highlight where cities, states, and regions – as well as their affiliated net-zero alliances and initiatives – are already meeting or exceeding the minimum standards set by the flagship Integrity Matters report launched at COP27; and
• Provide additional details on Integrity Matters recommendations specific to cities, states, and regions that can enable accelerated subnational government alignment that is conducive to action implementation, especially amongst those whose climate ambitions are tempered by trailing levels of capacity and expertise.

Recognizing fundamental alignment with the ten recommendations in the Integrity Matters, this report is structured into five overarching sections that outline considerations for cities, states, and regions:

1. Towards Net Zero 
2. Setting Net Zero Targets
3. Planning for action
4. Reporting
5. Collaborations and Partnerships