The Findings from Innovate4Cities 2021 and Update to the Global Research and Action Agenda details the research, policy, public discussions, recommendations and research gaps as the Global Research and Action Agenda for Cities and Climate Change Science (GRAA), drawing on hundreds of presentations and discussions at the Innovate4Cities 2021 Conference under key topical and cross-cutting themes (Figure 1). The GRAA is also a building block towards the Seventh Assessment Report Cycle (AR7) of the IPCC’s Special Report on Cities and Climate Change and Working Groups II and III reports that highlight the importance of cities in adapting to and mitigating climate change.

The document helps frame the need to catalyse action and implementation, focuses on new and emerging research gaps for the topical areas and cross-cutting issues identified in the GRAA, and hones in on regional insights to highlight variation in research and implementation gaps across different contexts.

The Findings from Innovate4Cities 2021 and Update to the Global Research and Action Agenda is a key outcome of the Innovate4Cities 2021 Conference that was co-hosted by GCoM and UN-Habitat and co-sponsored by the IPCC. This conference was a virtual global and regional event that brought together nearly 7,000 participants from diverse science and innovation, policy and practice communities, united by the common objective of enabling cities to take accelerated and more ambitious climate action.