Partnership Declaration on Collaborative Climate Action

Climate change is one of the most pressing challenges of our time, already dramatically impacting natural environments and human communities around the world.

The Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development set out a global framework for action towards systemic transitions to avert climate change with catastrophic consequences and ensure clean and sustainable growth within our planet’s boundaries.

We need a fast and fair transformation to low-carbon, inclusive economies and societies, in a world, where temperature increase is to be limited to well below 2°C and ideally 1,5°C. This transformation provides ample opportunities to bring about sustainable economic growth and development, improve the quality of life of the citizens, public health, as well as the state of biodiversity.

To a large extent, this transformation will be driven at the local level, by the cities and regions around the world. However, the pace and scale of change needed will only be possible if national governments enable it by decisive leadership and strong, targeted support.

The transition towards a climate-friendly world is possible. The required technologies and solutions are already available or looming. We need a bold and concerted push across all levels of government, together with communities, stakeholders and citizens to achieve it. We need transformative climate action that addresses the concerns and priorities of those who are most affected by climate change, including supporting the role of women, girls and youth as agents of change in the development and implementation of national climate policies.
This Partnership Declaration brings together states, cities and regions as well as their networks and relevant actors committed to achieving sustainable and climate-resilient growth and development, delivering better quality of life for all, in accordance with the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement’s goals.
Guiding Principles

Partnership: Successful climate action is based on a partnership approach, coordinated across the governmental tiers, including all relevant stakeholders, reaching out to civil society and using the potentials of diverse perspectives and resources.

Universality: While national circumstances and governance structures differ, the climate challenge affects all of us. Commitment and innovation in cities and regions and communities need to complement national governments’ efforts to establish frameworks for bold, effective climate action.
Coherence: Climate policies should be coherent and take into account all relevant sectors and levels. Economic and sectoral programmes, plans and interventions must support both climate goals and Sustainable Development Goals, integrating social and ecological aspects and benefits and reflecting the realities and needs of all actors.

Transparency: Communication across all levels of government and with relevant actors and stakeholders, including civil society, as well as transparent reporting on actions and progress towards our climate goals are key factors for achieving successful transformation.
Priority Actions

We will take the following actions in so far as within our respective constitutional circumstances, mandates and capabilities:

We, national governments, will:
Develop and implement as well as review and enhance climate policies and plans – including, by 2020, Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) and Long Term Strategies (LTS) – in the effort to align with internationally agreed climate goals and reflect the roles of subnational actors, as applicable. Cooperate, support
each other, and make use of existing structures, initiatives and partnerships, such as the NDC Partnership or other relevant initiatives and networks undertaken in the framework of the Marrakech partnership for Global Climate Action.

Enhance enabling environments that help transform our cities and regions so that they can play their part in formulating and implementing current and future climate policies. Develop tailored capacity building for local climate action, support networks and initiatives and encourage replication and scaling of existing good practice.
Remove funding barriers to local action and support subnational access, as applicable, to national and international financing. Green public budgets and develop coherent consistent, stable and multi-level financial frameworks that enable investment in low-carbon, climate-resilient infrastructures at the local level.
Engage in climate vulnerability assessments and create national frameworks to enable risk finance and risk transfer schemes to fully benefit the poorest and most vulnerable population.
Review research and development budgets to focus their resources on accelerating learning in transformation and provide incentives for developing innovative and transformative solutions, in particular to the view of co-benefits.

We, states and regions will:
Develop and implement ambitious climate policies, programs and action and support national governments in the implementation of medium and long-term climate policies and strategies in line with the international climate targets.

Enable cities and municipalities to take climate action through disseminating information on available funding, encouraging exchange of experience and offering strategic support.
Take responsibility for spatial planning that takes into account climate change and promotes risk assessment, risk finance and transfer options.

We, cities and municipalities will:
Develop and implement ambitious local strategies and action plans, as pursued within local government networks such as the Global Covenant of Mayors, as appropriate.
Increase physical and financial resilience in alignment and in cooperation with regional and national governments, as applicable.

Engage and enable communities, stakeholders and citizens and work in partnerships across all sectors, with business and civil society in inclusive participatory dialogue formats.
Integrate climate objectives into the delivery of all relevant municipal services.

Jointly, we will:
Demonstrate enhanced collective climate ambition and develop and implement coherent policies and plans for achieving the long-term goal of the Paris Agreement across all economic sectors, striving for limitation in temperature increase of well below 2° C.

Alongside mitigation, strive for achieving a balance between anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of greenhouse gases and engaging stakeholders and citizens in the process, based on our respective competencies and spheres of influence.

Take clear and tangible commitments to mitigate the impacts and improve the resilience to climate change for the most vulnerable urban populations. In this regard, develop nature-based solutions and green infrastructures to enhance cities resilience to disasters caused by climate change effects and contribute to mitigate climate change.

Share lessons and cooperate among and between all levels, inter alia within coalitions, networks and partnerships, to encourage, inspire and support more ambitious climate policies and programmes embedded in the sustainable development agenda, and catalyse transformative initiatives.

Pursue collaborative climate action that is innovative and inspirational, suitable for replication and upscaling as well as gender-sensitive, inclusive, but also concrete, visible, measurable and focused, and, underscoring the economic case for ambitious climate action and integrating social and ecological benefits.

22.05.2019