Think global, fund local

Dr Carl Wright explains why sustainable action at community level, backed by new funding agreements at COP29, is the future of tackling climate change effectively

The past year is likely to have been the first in which the global average temperature was 1.5C above that of the pre-industrial era. Passing the 1.5C warming threshold might feel like an inexorable slide towards catastrophic climate change that no one person can halt, but individuals can do more about climate change and sustainability than they realise.

The 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) contain 169 specific targets. The OECD has estimated that at least 100 of these targets need to be implemented at local, not national, level to be effective. Those include SDGs related to basic education, public transport, authorising housing development and enforcing vehicle emission standards.

SDG 13 on climate action, in particular, shows what can be achieved locally. Many local authorities in the UK and elsewhere have designated lead councillors and appointed dedicated officers to implement local climate action plans to reach net zero. This requires collaboration with the private sector: for example in promoting green investment, enforcing sustainable building standards on new housing and encouraging businesses to establish their own net-zero plans. Bristol, Glasgow and London have been leaders in ‘localising’ the SDGs, but smaller councils such as Canterbury in Kent are following suit, integrating them into their corporate plans.

Funds on the ground

All this has financial implications. Globally, it is increasingly realised that green or climate funds, including those being dispersed by multilateral development banks and organisations such as the EU, can be deployed most efficiently and quickly by channelling finance directly to local authorities – providing the latter have the necessary competencies and institutional capacity.

That is why the Loss and Damage Fund, agreed in 2023 to provide climate disaster relief under the auspices of the World Bank, specifically allows for disbursement of funds at the sub-national level, although exact details remain to be worked out. Likewise, the EU, operating on the principle of subsidiarity, has provision for channelling its climate, development and structural funds to the local level, both in member states and overseas partner countries.

Your local COP29

The 2024 UN Climate Summit, COP29 – dubbed the ‘finance COP’ – saw 500 mayors and local government representatives attend, including umbrella organisations such as local government and municipal authorities, the C-40 Cities (chaired by London’s Mayor Sadiq Khan) and the Commonwealth Local Government Forum. A highlight was their participation in a high-level ministerial meeting on urbanisation and climate, including a special session on financing urban climate action, facilitated by UN Habitat.

When it came to money, COP29 resulted in a ‘new collective quantified goal’ of $300bn per annum by 2035, to be contributed by developed nations. This core target was contained within an ambitious overall goal of $1.3tn per annum, to include private sector contributions, although the mechanisms are not yet laid out. There is, therefore, much scope for cooperation between local governments and the private sector in implementing the global climate goals. This will include, where feasible, drawing on available green climate funds and engaging in various forms of collaboration such as blended financing, especially investment for urban infrastructure.

The same applies to public-private sector cooperation in implementing the wide range of other SDGs, many of which – such as clean water and sanitation (SDG6), clean energy (7), sustainable cities and communities (11) and responsible consumption (12) – are directly relevant to climate action.

Just prior to the Baku COP 29 summit, Commonwealth leaders including UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer met in Samoa. In their official communiqué, they specifically recognised the importance of urbanisation and the need to support sustainable cities. Thinking global and acting local is, therefore, very much on the international agenda, not least for business and financial institutions wishing to promote sustainability and practical climate action.

Dr Carl Wright is Secretary-General Emeritus of the Commonwealth Local Government Forum and has worked at senior level in the Commonwealth, UN, EU and other international organisations. He was an official observer at the COP29 in Baku and at previous COPs. He is also the author of Global Citizen: Grass Roots Activism and High Diplomacy