At this pivotal moment for climate action and while COP30 is underway, the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy (GCoM) stands shoulder-to-shoulder with cities, states, and regions worldwide to accelerate the shift from negotiation to delivery.
Last week, the COP30 Local Leaders Forum – hosted by the COP30 Presidency and Bloomberg Philanthropies – and the C40 Cities World Mayors Summit brought together more than 300 mayors, governors, and subnational officials from around the world in Rio de Janeiro to showcase how local action is driving global climate progress.
The GCoM delegation is in Belém, Brazil this week to heed the call of the COP30 Presidency to join the global “Mutirão”, building on last week’s developments at the COP30 Local Leaders Forum that paved the way for strengthening the subnational climate agenda.
Laying the groundwork for a strengthened subnational climate agenda, the Forum delivered the following pivotal announcements:
Cities are at the forefront of global climate action. Uniting more than 13,800 cities and local governments across 148 countries, and covering 1.2 billion people, one in every seven people worldwide, the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy (GCoM) is accelerating local climate solutions. GCoM’s flagship report “The Urban Advantage: Cities’ Global Climate Action”, launched during the COP30 Local Leaders Forum, demonstrates the power of local leadership to deliver global progress, with €4 billion in potential climate finance unlocked through our Invest4Cities initiative. Explore the full report here.
Signaling its commitment to leverage the key role of cities and regions to accelerate global climate action, the EU stands alongside the other CHAMP endorsers who aim to enable greater cooperation between all levels of government to achieve their climate goals deriving from the Paris Agreement. The EU joins CHAMP with vast and valuable experience of multilevel governance and partnerships. This includes the deployment of its cohesion policy across EU territories, the institutional role of the Committee of the Regions and Commission led initiatives, such as the European Covenant of Mayors and the EU Mission on Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities, allowing for enhanced cooperation with cities, regions and central level of government. Read more.
The Baku-to-Belém Roadmap’s call to mobilize $1.3 trillion annually presents a historic opportunity to ensure cities, towns, and regions are at the center of global climate finance. With COP30 marking a turning point to fully integrate cities into the UNFCCC process – and under the “Global Mutirão” theme – this partnership underscores the pivotal role cities play in implementing the next generation of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and delivering climate action that leaves no one behind. Continue reading.
GCoM welcomed continued support from Bloomberg Philanthropies to accelerate local climate leadership. Announced by UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Climate Ambition and Solutions and GCoM Co-Chair Michael R. Bloomberg at the Local Climate Action Summit during the COP30 Local Leaders Forum, this investment demonstrates how cities, states, and regions are delivering measurable climate progress and are ushering in the next era of local leadership and multilevel collaboration worldwide. Read more.
The COP30 Local Leaders Forum Joint Outcome Statement
Unveiled as the culminating outcome of the COP30 Local Leaders Forum, the COP30 Local Leaders Forum Joint Outcome Statement is a declaration of support from more than 14,000 cities, towns, states, regions, and provinces across every continent, affirming their collective commitment to advancing real, on-the-ground climate solutions. Local representatives – including Mayor of Paris & GCoM Global Ambassador, Anne Hidalgo – presented the Statement to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, outlining three viable solutions to national governments to fast-track action. Discover the full statement here.
The launch of the “City Climate Compass”
GCoM and C40 Cities, in close collaboration with the Federal Government of Brazil, have announced the development of the “City Climate Compass” (beta version) – a pioneering digital dashboard that consolidates climate data from all 5,570 Brazilian municipalities, thus offering an integrated view of local greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, climate risks, and priority high impact actions. Find out more.
The winners of the 2025 Local Leaders Climate Awards
Barcarena (Brazil), Sofia (Bulgaria), and many more GCoM signatory cities were among the 2025 Bloomberg Philanthropies Local Leaders Climate Awards winners and were recognized for taking bold action towards tackling climate change, improving quality of life, and fostering economic opportunity. This year’s winners were distinguished by their ability to connect climate policy to people’s everyday lives. Continue reading.
The Brazilian Government, Bloomberg Philanthropies, C40 Cities, and GCoM announced a new effort to help 50 Brazilian cities implement more than 20 climate projects by 2027. With new support from Bloomberg Philanthropies, the initiative will focus on multilevel climate implementation through the development of ambitious local sustainable transport and low-methane waste management projects connected to federal government programmes and support. Find out more.
Over the course of 3 days at the COP30 Local Leaders Forum, mayors from across the GCoM alliance and C40 Cities announced their Yearly Offers of Action – pledges to deliver concrete climate solutions in the next 12 months. This collective effort highlights the role of city leaders in driving urgent, local implementation to protect people, cut emissions, and build resilience. Explore the Yearly Offers of Action here.
The GCoM Board Members, Co-Chairs, and Ambassadors convened in person in Rio de Janeiro to engage in meaningful discussions towards delivering tangible climate adaptation results and achieving the Paris Agreement goals. We are grateful to our Board Members for setting the strategic direction and providing local & regionally specific perspectives, ensuring our work is truly city-led.
The 2025 Global Snapshot developed by CDP, in partnership with GCoM, contains fresh analysis of the 2,164 projects disclosed through CDP-ICLEI Track, by 507 cities in 62 countries, so far in 2025. For the first time, the world’s cities are seeking more than $100 billion to build a climate-resilient future, new CDP data shows. Yet while ambition is scaling fast, the finance to make those projects a tangible reality is still lagging far behind. Read more here.
As the world gathers in Belém, the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy (GCoM) is championing a COP process rooted in implementation and accountability, where local and national leaders work together to advance the goals of the Paris Agreement.
We are calling on COP negotiators and governments to engage meaningfully with cities, and for financial institutions and investors to provide direct, predictable climate finance, in particular for cities in the Global South.
