“COP28 Presidency” and “Bloomberg Philanthropies” open the National Climate Action Summit

Dubai (Etihad)
Yesterday, the COP28 Presidency and Bloomberg Philanthropies held the first COP Local Leaders Summit, representing a new phase of “inclusion and integration in the COP agenda.” The COP28 National Climate Action Summit was held during the Global Climate Action Summit at the COP28 Conference of the Parties and was hosted by His Excellency Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, President of the COP28 Conference of the Parties, and Michael Bloomberg, Special Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General on Climate Ambition and Solutions, Founder of the COP28 National Climate Action Summit. Bloomberg Philanthropies, with the participation of a group of global leaders from around the world. The summit, which brought together more than 450 participants from more than 60 countries, including more than 250 mayors and cities, focused on achieving greater integration in four basic topics: creating a qualitative shift in local climate financing, integrating local contributions to enhance global climate action, and accelerating the achievement of An orderly, responsible, fair and rational transition in domestic energy sectors, and enhancing climate resilience and adaptation at the local level.
His Excellency Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber stressed that, in line with the vision of the leadership in the UAE, the COP28 presidency is working to build bridges of cooperation with all countries to achieve the required solidarity and consensus necessary to reach global climate and development goals. His Excellency said that the summit constitutes a new pioneering achievement for COP28 and an important milestone in the efforts of the conference presidency to host a more inclusive Conference of the Parties, especially with the summit’s focus on highlighting the important role of national climate action leaders in various countries around the world in order to reduce emissions. And to address the repercussions of climate change, and to strengthen their countries’ efforts aimed at achieving the desired progress in climate action. He also expressed his happiness at meeting many pioneers of national climate action during the summit.
Speakers participating in the COP28 National Climate Action Summit include António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, Maros Sefcovic, Vice President of the European Commission, Xie Zhenhua, China’s Special Envoy on Climate Change, John Kerry, US Special Envoy for Climate Change, and mayors Dubai, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo, Bogota, KwaZulu-Natal Province and Makati.
Launching an initiative
The COP28 National Climate Action Summit witnessed the launch by the Conference Presidency of the “Alliance for High-Ambition Multilevel Partnerships” (CHAMP), which was developed in consultation with local leaders and stakeholders, and is a pioneering initiative that recommends a new process for local and regional leaders to contribute to the development of updated and ambitious contributions. And nationally defined.
The initiative was approved by 62 national governments aiming to enhance cooperation at the national and local levels to develop a new, comprehensive, ambitious approach to renewing nationally determined contributions. CHAMP also provides a mechanism to collect the best ideas for climate action at the local level, and aims for the next round of setting national climate goals to be more Ambitious and inclusive of everyone.

During her speech, Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris, said: “I thank António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, His Excellency Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, President of COP28, and Mike Bloomberg, for their commitment to providing the required support to city leaders, as achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement requires their active contribution, and “This summit represents a great success, and I invite all my colleagues to join us.” The global stocktake synthesis report issued this year highlighted the need to accelerate climate ambition and improve multi-level action.
More than 1,000 cities have participated in the United Nations’ Race to Zero campaign, with a collective commitment to reduce emissions of 1.4 gigatonnes annually by 2030. The “Alliance for Highly Ambitious Multi-Level Partnerships” is a catalyst to strengthen these contributions and accelerate local action. The Coalition for Highly Ambitious Multilevel Partnerships (CHAMP) represents a new, inclusive way to shape ambitious, actionable Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). The next COP will encourage countries to invite their local governments to prepare and submit climate plans as inputs to updated Nationally Determined Contributions.
In support of this approach, Mike Bloomberg, Special Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General for Climate Ambition and Solutions, announced a new commitment of $65 million, as part of a move aimed at strengthening his long-term support for local climate action, to reduce emissions around the world. With support from Bloomberg Philanthropies, the funding will provide critical support to leading city networks, expand research and data provision, and strengthen local climate finance capacity. With this announcement, Mike Bloomberg raises the value of his commitments to support cities to reduce emissions to more than $650 million.
Mike Bloomberg said: “In 2015, after decades of marginalization, mayors attended the Conference of the Parties in Paris and invited local leaders to sign a global agreement for the first time. This year, for the first time, local and regional leaders were officially invited to participate in the discussion sessions, and this is evidence of the continued raising of the ceiling of cities’ ambition and their continued aspiration towards development.” Today’s summit comes eight years after the Local Leaders Climate Summit convened by Mike Bloomberg and Anne Hidalgo, on the sidelines of the COP21 Conference of the Parties.
To celebrate this occasion, Bloomberg Philanthropies released a new report, “Driving Local Climate Action from Paris to Dubai,” which outlines the historic progress made by cities and regions, and identifies the steps needed for greater ambition and partnership to accelerate climate action before 2030.
62 countries have endorsed the highly ambitious Alliances for a Multi-Level Partnership initiative.