Marrakech Call for Action highlights local and regional governments’ ongoing mobilization in the battle for sustainability

The Climate Summit for Local and Regional Leaders

The Climate Summit for Local and Regional Leaders took place on 14th October in the framework of the COP22 in Marrakech. This event brought together all the major regional and international networks of cities and local and regional authorities, including UCLG.  

The theme of this one-day event was “Financing the Sustainable Transition of Territories”. It showcased local and regional leaders’ commitment and willingness to support the implementation of the Global Climate Action Agenda, to strengthen convergences and alliances, and to develop the necessary partnerships to accelerate local action for climate.

The main outcome document of the Summit is the Marrakech Roadmap for Action: "For a Global Action Framework towards Localizing Climate Finance, the Call of Cities and Regions of the World".

The Marrakech Call for Action recalls the continuity of the global mobilization and engagement of local governments through the second edition of the Summit, following the unprecedented event of December 2015, held at the City Hall in Paris.

Through this statement, local and regional leaders reiterate that the climate change agenda needs to be linked with the other major international development agendas: local networks recall the structural links existing between the various international texts adopted by central governments during the 2015-2016 cycle of negotiations, i.e.: the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, the Sustainable Development Agenda and its 17 SDGs, the Paris Agreement, and the Habitat III New Urban Agenda”.

The Climate Summit for Local and Regional Leaders further displayed the initiatives and partnerships that local and regional governments are implementing to contribute to the achievement of the commitments of the Paris Agreement. During his intervention, UCLG President Parks Tau stated that local and regional governments worldwide have never been so united in the battle for sustainability. President Tau argued that local governments need adequate funding to face the challenges of climate change as “our responsibilities are great and our commitment needs to be even greater”.