The Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy (GCoM) is the world’s largest alliance for city climate leadership, uniting more than 14,000 cities and local governments across 150 countries. Over 1.3 billion people, one in every seven worldwide, live in a city or locality that is committed to GCoM.
As GCoM celebrates a decade of support for climate action, the 2026 Impact Report reflects on what the last ten years of collective action has built, where the alliance stands today, and what it will take to deliver on the vision ahead. It tells the story of the people and numbers behind the world’s largest alliance for city climate leadership. An alliance shifting from commitment to delivery, highlighting how cities and local governments have carried climate action further – and faster – than national pledge alone.
Cities are setting the pace for global climate action
While updated NDCs reflect growing progress, they remain insufficient to meet the 1.5°C threshold. In 2026, 58% of GCoM signatories committed to targets bolder than their national governments, demonstrating that ambitious local action is closing the gap between current national targets and the emission reductions required.
Cities could reduce emissions by 4.8 GtCo2e Annually by 2050
Cities are continuing a wave of ambition and implementation
More than 9,400 mitigation, 3,850 adaptation, and 1,700 energy-access and poverty badges have now been awarded, demonstrating continued progress and opportunity for implementation.
Ambitious climate action requires a robust and impactful way to measure, track, and recognize progress. Launched in 2019, GCoM’s Common Reporting Framework (CRF) recognizes signatory progress through badges, centered on the pillars of mitigation, adaptation, and energy access and energy poverty. A city earns a badge for each phase of the three pillars against the minimum requirements set out in the CRF.
Kisumu is turning ambition into action
Kisumu County, Kenya, is piloting an ambitious roadmap to achieve 100% renewable energy by 2050, aligning with global climate goals and principles of just and inclusive transitions. Supported by both the UTM and the Green Powered Future Mission (GPFM) of MI, the partnership combines technical planning, investment facilitation, and community-led design. Learn more about how GCoM cities are turning ambition into action in the 2026 Impact Report.
A decade of the global covenant of mayors
This year, the Global Covenant of Mayors turns 10, marking a decade of mobilizing the world’s largest alliance of cities committed to global action on climate and energy. What began as a bold idea now connects over 14,000 small, medium, and large cities across 150 countries, proving that local ambition is the engine behind global progress.
In the decade ahead, GCoM will continue to scale city climate action worldwide, empowering local leaders to build safer, more resilient communities. We are proud to partner with thousands of mayors and local leaders who are shaping a sustainable future, from the ground up
AN ALLIANCE DRIVEN BY THE EFFORTS OF REGIONAL AND NATIONAL COVENANTS
Commit to the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy
GCoM cities are united in their shared goals to increase access to renewable, clean energy, build healthy environments, and promote initiatives and best practices that will accelerate the fight against climate change. Together, we will show the collective impact of cities and local governments, and be a force in realizing our vision to achieve a sustainable future.