Day #11 - 9 December 2010: on the High Level Special Event - Local goverments and parlamentarians supporting climate change

On Wednesday 8 December, local governments achieved prominence through the high level event on cities and parliamentarians held for the first time in the history of the Climate Roadmap advocacy journey.

The event was chaired by the COP President with a keynote from the Executive Secretary; it included the participation of Mayor Ebrard (Mexico City), Minister Huytebroeck (Brussels-Capital), David Cadman (ICLEI President on behalf of entire LGMA constituency) and Theo-Ben Gurirab, President of the Inter-Parliamentarian Union and Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Namibia.  

The meeting took place in the negotiation building crowded with both participants and international press and it was followed by a large press conference.

The event quoted the COP Presidency and the Executive Secretary on cities as governmental stakeholders and referred to the Climate Registry as piloting MRV and model for nations.

After participating in the High Level Segment of COP, the desired outcome is now the adoption of the LG references as part of the effort of the Presidency towards the adoption by the COP of the entire LCA text with the chapters on mitigation and finance partly setting frameworks and partly deferred to further decision-making.

The recording of the session will be uploaded next week.

COP 16 Presidency: local goverments and parlamentarians supporting climate change Watch the Webcast on the offcial COP16 website!

PRESS RELEASE: UN refers to cities as key governmental stakeholders supporting global climate action

8 December 2010, CANCUN/MEXICO - For the first time, the crucial role of local governments in fighting climate change has been recognized officially at the UN climate talks in Cancun (COP16). The local government delegation has achieved a tremendous success, with cities and local governments now being recognized by states as 'governmental stakeholders'. Read the full Press Release full text...