Heidelberg Outcomes

Heidelberg Outcomes: Executive Summary

Collaborative Climate Action – lessons, levers, practical examples

The case for Collaborative Climate Action

Collaborative Climate Action across different government levels, sectors and stakeholder groups is key to achieving the urgently needed transformation towards sustainable and greenhouse gas neutral economies and societies. Transforming structures, patterns of usage, density, transport and mobility systems, developing circular economies, and achieving behaviour change among citizens requires including all relevant actors, engaging in longer-term, transparent and foreseeable planning processes, fostering a culture of mutual respect, openness to learning and change, and overcoming fear and scepticism. Collaborative Climate Action needs leadership that balances direction, inclusion and service.

Collaborative Climate Action means to communicate, coordinate and cooperate across levels, sectors, and stakeholder groups. It enables a systemic, holistic approach to transformation. It combines the diversity of everybody’s expertise, innovation potentials, and resources, thus multiplying the impacts of individual efforts. It can indeed be the critical transformative leverage for realising ever more ambitious climate action – NDCs and long-term strategies – that delivers on the Paris Agreement’s goals.

Transformation is possible!

At the International Conference on Climate Action (ICCA2019) and the interlinked Climate Neighbourhoods in Heidelberg, Germany, on 22 and 23 May 2019, leaders and experts from national and subnational governments and international organisations, initiatives and networks as well as youth from all over the world came together. Participants shared their knowledge and experiences in climate action in in-depth and cross-level discussions. In the spirit of ambition and partnership, they identified transformative strategies in a range of sectors, factors of success and failure, methods for replication as well as scaling and speeding up climate action through enhanced coordination and cooperation.

Regions, cities and towns are at the core of a dynamic global movement for transformation. With their economic and innovative power as well as their engagement with citizens and stakeholders, subnational actors can develop and shape low-emission economic practices and resilient infrastructures as well as social systems and lifestyles. At the same time, decisive leadership and strong support of national governments is essential to unleash the full transformative potential of cities and subnational actors.

ICCA2019 served as a milestone towards the UN Climate Action Summit in September 2019 and offered a platform to develop further initiatives in this regard. The participants of ICCA2019, of the Climate Neighbourhoods and the surrounding events sent a clear message that Collaborative Climate Action can drive ambition and trigger transformation to counter the climate crisis quickly, fairly, and effectively.

The Partnership Declaration on Collaborative Climate Action was launched and endorsed by all levels of government at ICCA2019. The declaration articulates shared views and guiding principles as well as priorities for action that help to unlock the potential of Collaborative Climate Action for implementing the Paris Agreement.

To achieve the transformation toward a low carbon society, participants favoured different transformation strategies, based on diverse backgrounds, perspectives and fields of knowledge. In part, such debates reflect the different roles, responsibilities and options that various actors have. The challenge, and the opportunity, of Collaborative Climate Action are to put this diversity to effective use in response to the climate crisis.

ICCA2019 reached a broad consensus that together we can limit global warming to 1.5 degrees: jointly, we can achieve the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda. We have the scientific knowledge, the technological, economic and social innovations, and the resources to implement the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The transformation towards low carbon societies and economies is possible!
 

For more click here (ICCA2019 Heidelberg Outcomes).