The COP26 in November in Glasgow,  from the 1st to 12th of November, will be an occasion for governments to raise their ambitions within their National Determined Contributions and current National Adaptation plans.

The UK COP presidency has announced amongst its priorities for this COP: to drive down emissions and set targets towards net-zero emissions, for every country to arrive in Glasgow having set out their adaptation priorities, mobilising finance to tackle climate change towards the $100 billion a year, and to allow for better collaboration between actors, sectors and all levels or governments.

Regions4 at the COP

The overall objective of Regions4 participation at the COP is to promote multilevel governance for an increased ambition and effective action on climate adaptation through the key role of regional governments.

Regions4 will bring forward innovative solutions that can be up-scaled, and present the role Regions4 and its newly reinforced initiative, RegionsAdapt, can play in supporting regional governments in raising their ambitions on adaptation and resilience.

Regions4 has worked closely with the Local Governments and Municipal Authorities constituency to push for a multi-level COP in which collaboration at all levels of governments is recognized and taken into account in the announced new ambitions, and to push for further visibility, through the Race to Resilience campaign, on the actions of non-state actors, including regions, in developing and accelerating actions towards resilience.

Regions4 report and Statement of Regional Governments for COP26

Regions4 Report for COP26: “Raising ambitions on climate adaptation: lessons learnt and contributions of regional governments”. Based on a review of 11 key best practices  within the past 5 years, from Regions4 and RegionsAdapt members, the aim of the report is to show how regional governments have developed, implemented and raised the ambitions of their adaptation plans, and resilience or climate actions and to provide lessons learnt that can inform policy makers.

Consult the report here (it will be published on 8 November).

Joint statement from regional governments for COP26.

On the 30th of September, the governments of Lombardy and Scotland, organized a key preparatory COP26 event on sub-nationals governments call for action for raising ambitions at COP26.  During this event a draft statement from regional governments towards COP26 was presented and shared with more than 14 regions present at the meeting,  for their review and inputs.  The reviewed and finalized statement will be presented at Regions4 High level side event on the 8th of November: The leading role of regions for raising ambitions on adaptation and resilience.

Consult the statement here (it will be available on 8th November).

Regions4 Activities at the COP

Hearing the voice of subnational governments: learning from the Edinburgh Declaration for biodiversity

Location: Multilevel Action Pavilion, Blue Zone

Date: 6th of November

Time: 3PM – 4PM GMT

Objective

Aims to assemble a cast of political supporters of the Edinburgh Process to showcase the success of a whole of government approach within the Convention on Biological Diversity, and how this could be utilised UNFCCC.

Organizers

This will be an in-person event, facilitated by Scottish Government, NatureScot and Edinburgh Process partners, including Committee of Regions, Regions4,  ICLEI Europe, and could be recorded to add to the Road to CoP15 website and/or broadcast live to participant’s countries.

Join the event here.


Regions4 – RegionsAdapt High level side Event at COP26, The leading role of regional governments for raising ambitions on adaptation and resilience

Date: 8th of November

Time: 2PM – 3:30PM GMT

Location: Hybrid event with virtual option, will take place on Multilevel Action Pavilion, Blue Zone COP and can be joined virtually via zoom link.

Objective: Present the role and experience of regions in raising ambitions for adaptation, as a contribution to the global climate agenda, launch statement of regions for COP26, and Regions4 report for COP26. The event will allow to share lessons learned of more than 12 regions and showcase how networks/initiatives like RegionsAdapt facilitate engagement, cooperation, accelerate implementation and strengthen accountability

Organizers: The event is organised by Regions4 and co-organised by members: the Basque Country, Gossas, Cross River State, CONGOPE Ecuador, São Paulo, Mancomunidad Regional de los Andes, Lombardy, Catalonia, Flanders and Scotland. With the support of partners: Basque Centre for Climate Change (BC3), ORU-Fogar, UNFCCC Race to Resilience Campaign, European Committee of Regions (CoR), Assembly of European Regions, CDP, Climate-KIC, World Resource Institute (WRI), Local Governments & Municipal Authorities Constituency (LGMA).

To register click here.


UNFCCC official side event: Time4Multilevel action: 2030 agenda of cities and regions to enhance ambition and accelerate action

When: Monday 8th of November

Time: 6:30PM – 8PM GMT

Where: Blue Zone –  Multimedia Studio 2

Objective: This side event will look at the importance of the participation of all levels of government as recognized by the Paris Agreement. Through numerous 2nd NDC experiences, the LGMA constituency will show how to ensure that multi-level collaboration becomes the new normal for transformative, holistic, and inclusive action in the age of climate emergency.

Organizers: led by ICLEI, and co-organized by Regions4 Sustainable Development, UGCL, Basque Centre for Climate change (BC3) and Conseil des Communes et Régions d’Europe (CCRE/ CEMR).

Join the event here.


FURTHER INFORMATION

For more information contact: Heloise Chicou, Climate Advocacy Officer, Regions4 : climate@regions4.org

Please see here the UK presidency calendar for the COP: Presidency Programme – UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) at the SEC – Glasgow 2021 (ukcop26.org)