A new joint assessment from GCoM and C40 Cities reveals strong and accelerating growth in local climate implementation across CHAMP-endorsing countries.

Belém, Brazil (20 November 2025) – As negotiations advance at COP30 to define the next era of climate ambition, a new joint assessment from the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy (GCoM) and C40 Cities reveals a decisive global shift: cities are rapidly moving from pledges to real-world implementation, delivering climate results at a pace that already outstrip national progress.

Launched today at COP30, the findings demonstrate that local climate action is now an indispensable force for meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement and actively contributing to the UNFCCC’s Global Stocktake (GST). The analysis provides strong evidence that empowering cities through multilevel governance is one of the most effective ways to close the ambition and implementation gap identified in the first Global Stocktake – particularly in countries endorsing the Coalition for High Ambition Multilevel Partnerships (CHAMP).

Launched in 2023 during COP28, the CHAMP coalition is a platform to enhance collaboration between national and subnational governments in climate policy and finance. As of today, 77 countries and the European Union have endorsed CHAMP, demonstrating a growing global commitment to multilevel governance. 

The assessment underscores that cities are already delivering the climate solutions the world urgently needs. Over the past decade, they have recorded almost a tenfold increase in tangible, on-the-ground climate actions – clear evidence of rapidly accelerating local implementation. The findings are based on a recent analysis conducted in partnership with Arup, utilizing data from the CDP–ICLEI track as well as MyCovenant and GCoM’s Impact Report, across all GCoM cities. 

To fully achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement, national governments should go beyond acknowledging this progress and actively empower it. Strengthening multilevel governance remains one of the most effective and immediate strategies for unlocking the full potential of local action and accelerating global climate delivery. 

A Decisive Decade for Local Climate Action

Ten years after the Paris Agreement, countries are now submitting their revised Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) at varying pace and ambition. While the latest NDC Synthesis Report shows progress – particularly in the recognition of subnational entities as critical implementers – it also makes clear that current efforts remain insufficient to limit global warming in line with the Paris Agreement. At the same time, local governments are accelerating action dramatically:

• Reported mitigation actions increased nearly ten-fold since 2015, reaching 4,723 in 2024;
• Adaptation actions have increased ten-fold, showing cities rapidly scaling resilience efforts;
• Today, cities have measures in place to address nearly 85% of their high-risk climate hazards, up from 69% in 2019.

The analysis confirms a global trend: cities, states, and regions are no longer peripheral to climate action – they are essential partners in its planning, implementation, and monitoring.

The new analysis also shows that the majority of cities are already bending the emissions curve:

• 61% of cities of CHAMP endorsing countries with long-term data are on a decreasing trajectory;
• 73% of C40 cities have officially peaked their emissions;
• Cities are increasingly aligning their climate plans with a 1.5°C pathway, with more actions now in the implementation and operational phase than ever before. Crucially, cities deliver reductions beyond the scope of current NDCs, offering the potential to close the gap to the 1.5°C goal by 37% in 2030 if their commitments are met.

In cities in CHAMP-endorsing countries, building-sector policies have cut emissions by one-fifth since 2015, surpassing reductions from national electricity grids over the same period. While the brief highlights lags in progress in the transport sector, a recently released report from C40 shows that targeted multilevel interventions could unlock faster reductions.

Cities Building Resilience as Climate Hazards Escalate

Extreme heat and flooding now account for 59% of high-risk hazards reported by cities. Local governments are responding with adaptation actions across critical sectors including water, health, conservation, and infrastructure. Among the key findings, the assessment highlights a surge of 789 additional adaptation actions “in operation” since 2019 as well as strong reliance on engineered solutions for floods and nature-based cooling strategies against extreme heat.

The findings alert, however, to a large global finance and implementation gap in Africa and the Middle East, where cities report the lowest levels of adaptation implementation – highlighting urgent needs for finance and support towards Global South cities.

Recommendations for COP30 and beyond

The findings outline a clear set of recommendations for governments aiming to meet their NDC 3.0 goals and respond to the UNFCCC’s Global Stocktake (GST):

1. Endorse and operationalize CHAMP to institutionalize multilevel governance as the global standard.
2. Leverage the Plan to Accelerate Solutions (PAS) to embed local priorities into national climate plans and accelerate delivery.
3. Direct finance to cities via the Baku–Belém Roadmap, unlocking the $1.3 trillion needed for developing countries and prioritizing subnational access to climate finance to deliver a robust pipeline of over 2,500 transformational local projects.
4. Create a dialogue for cities and regions within the UNFCCC to accelerate implementation at local and subnational levels and close the ambition gap.