The 9th Summit for Subnational Governments & Cities was opened with a powerful statement by Tigran Avinyan, Mayor of Yerevan, Armenia: “The future of our cities will be shaped by the priorities we set today and the consistency with which we act on them!”
Local and subnational leaders came together with a shared resolve to accelerate action for nature and turn commitments into results. Throughout the Summit, they showcased action already underway in cities and regions, demonstrating the power of local leadership and the urgent need to do more.
This was reinforced by Wade Crowfoot, California Secretary for Natural Resources, California Natural Resources Agency, United States, stating that “the UN and the nation-states have to recognise the role of cities and regions in delivering commitments, and be able to build capacity and fund us for that.” He continued with a call for faster delivery, “we have to use these convenings, these COPs, as implementation accelerators. Let’s utilise this time here in Yerevan and in subsequent COPs, to move further and faster because the world cannot wait.”
The message remains clear: accelerated urgent action is imperative, Parties cannot do it alone. Local action is essential to global impact. Under the themes of Align, Act, Accelerate, governors, mayors and other subnational government leaders from around the world engaged directly on critical issues related to alignment, implementation, acceleration and financing, with national leaders, their key stakeholders and partners.
COP17 Armenia President and Minister of Environment, Armenia, Minister Hambardzum Matevosyan, reminded delegates that no target is only national, but that every target is local somewhere. He reiterated: “Cities and subnational governments are not simply implementers of global commitments; they are essential partners in developing solutions, mobilising communities and delivering change on the ground.”
Astrid Schomaker, Executive Secretary of the UN Biodiversity gave an inspiring message to cities and regions; that they are at the heart of a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach. “The success of the framework hinges on what happens on the ground in the places people live and work,” she said.
The Summit also received powerful endorsement and support from a distinguished line-up of leaders across multilateral institutions, development finance, science-policy bodies and government, who delivered strong messages stressing the urgency to act, the need for collaboration and a whole-of government approach, the critical importance of connecting to other Conventions, as well as the need for more direct access to finance at subnational level.
Alfredo Coro II, Mayor of Del Carmen, Philippines, and Lead of ICLEI’s Biodiversity, Water and One Health Portfolio encouraged cities and regions to make their actions visible. “Commit and report on CitiesWithNature and RegionsWithNature so the world can see that local governments can deliver,” he said. “We have an opportunity to bring our collective political voice to this global agenda, share our experiences, and demonstrate that action for biodiversity is also action for human well-being.”
CitiesWithNature and RegionsWithNature are recognized in CBD Decision 15/12 as the platform for local and subnational governments to report on, and track progress against, their commitments to contributing to the implementation of the KMGBF and National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs). Currently, over 400 cities and regions from 82 countries have joined these initiatives, Shijazhuang and Hong Kong (SAR) were jointly announced as the 400th cities to join CitiesWithNature. The COP host city, Yerevan is also a new member having joined as number 401, paving the way for the next 100 cities.
Seven Chinese cities that have made extraordinary efforts in advancing local biodiversity initiatives were awarded the Biodiversity Charming Cities Award for best practices. They join an initial group of fifteen major Chinese cities awarded this accolade at COP15 and COP16.
Key launches and announcements at the 9th Summit included:
Launch of Arboris: replicable solutions for climate and biodiversity by Regions4
Legislation passed to establish New York City’s first Urban Forest Master Plan, authored by New York State Senator Erik Bottcher
Yerevan Biodiversity Challenge through iNaturalist
The GEF8 sustainable cities programme, implemented by The Development Bank of Southern Africa and ICLEI Africa
The 9th Summit for Subnational Governments & Cities was co-hosted by ICLEI, the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity and Regions4, along with the host Government of Armenia and the City of Yerevan. Additional partners include UNEP, UN Habitat, the Global Taskforce of Local and Regional Governments, CitiesWithNature and RegionsWithNature.