Subnational Leaders Adopt Bonn-Fiji Commitment on Climate Action

  • The Bonn-Fiji Commitment aims to advance sustainable urban development as a critical component of climate action and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, specifically SDG 11.
  • UN Habitat Executive Director Joan Clos said a new framework of cooperation among national, regional and local governments is required.
  1. 12 November 2017: Signaling the growing importance of subnational actors in the climate process, hundreds of local and regional leaders adopted the ‘Bonn-Fiji Commitment of Local and Regional Leaders to Deliver the Paris Agreement At All Levels.’ The Bonn-Fiji Commitment highlights the critical role that local and regional governments play in enacting programmes to combat climate change and implement the Paris Agreement on climate change.
  2. Cities, states and regions are “laboratories of reform, engines of innovation and where the action is,” said Arnold Schwarzenegger, former governor of California.
  3. The Bonn-Fiji Commitment aims to advance sustainable urban development as a critical component of climate action and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, specifically SDG 11 (sustainable cities and communities). It describes commitments, ambitions and actions of local and regional government, such as implementing the Paris Agreement in local jurisdictions, and enhancing engagement of local authorities in the UNFCCC negotiating process. 
  4. The Bonn-Fiji Commitment also details 19 initiatives undertaken by local and regional leaders, including: the newly created Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy; the Urban Leadership Council to build high-level political commitment to sustainable urban development; the African Sub-national Climate Fund to bridge the gap between infrastructure demands and the low number of bankable projects reaching investors; the Front-Line Cities and Islands, a coalition of coastal cities and islands on the front lines of climate change; the City Climate Planner programme to raise the global talent base of city climate planning professionals; the Covenant of Mayors in Sub-Saharan Africa; the Transformative Urban Mobility Initiative to support the construction and expansion of sustainable mobility systems in developing and newly industrialized countries; and the Climate Reporting Partnership to build a robust database of self-reported climate commitments, actions and performance tracking

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