ICLEI and the NDC Partnership bring forward multilevel climate action

November 16, 2017

With the Paris Agreement, national governments pledged to implement large-scale greenhouse gas emissions reductions within the next decade. Each country has submitted Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) – laying out their commitment to keep the global temperature rise below 2 degrees Celsius by the end of the century – and aiming for a lower, 1.5-degree increase.

Yet the current NDCs are not nearly enough to achieve this goal. According to the latest projections by UN Environment, if all the NDCs were fully implemented, the world would warm up to 3.2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, with catastrophic effects on ecosystems, livelihoods and human settlements.

ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability has been active in pushing for and supporting all levels of government to advance and raise climate ambitions. ICLEI has also strongly advocated that all levels of government work in close collaboration to implement climate policy.

Earlier this week, ICLEI became the first non-country associate member of the NDC Partnership, a privilege and a good sign that, through partnerships and shared goals among all levels of government, the climate challenge can be overcome.

The NDC Partnership, launched at COP22 in Marrakech, is a global network of 64 countries, development organizations, multilateral development banks and organizations focused on implementing the NDCs. It facilitates technical assistance, creates and disseminates insightful knowledge products that fill information gaps and promotes enhanced financial support for NDC implementation.

Together, the NDC Partnership and ICLEI will provide opportunities for all levels of government to strengthen systems and coordination mechanisms that enable all levels of government to take joint action on climate change.

“We are pleased and honored to have joined this partnership,” said Gino Van Begin, Secretary General of ICLEI. By bringing together all levels of government, ICLEI and the NDC Partnership can push rapid and effective implementation of the Paris Agreement.

“It makes perfect sense for NDC and ICLEI to come together,” said Pablo Vieira, Global Director of the NDC Partnership Support Unit. “Both initiatives have a lot of support, a lot of effect on several stakeholders.” Now, these two entities can come together to share knowledge and information and bring together top down and bottom up approaches to climate action.

So what does multilevel governance really mean? Today at COP23, the 23rd United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bonn, ICLEI and the NDC Partnership explored this issue and set the stage for their new partnership.