9 December 2015
LPAA Launches 5-Year Vision for Climate Action by Cities, Regions
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The Lima-Paris Action Agenda (LPAA), a partnership of governments and the UN, launched a five-year vision aiming to strengthen action on climate change by cities and regions, on the sidelines of the Paris Climate Change Conference.

The LPAA is led jointly by the Governments of Peru and France, the Office of the UN Secretary-General, and the Secretariat of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

lpaa8 December 2015: The Lima-Paris Action Agenda (LPAA), a partnership of governments and the UN, launched a five-year vision aiming to strengthen action on climate change by cities and regions, on the sidelines of the Paris Climate Change Conference. The LPAA is led jointly by the Governments of Peru and France, the Office of the UN Secretary-General, and the Secretariat of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

The LPAA vision seeks to: increase the number of cities and regions implementing an action plan on climate; build resilience, especially among vulnerable populations; improve project planning and related use of innovative economic and financial tools; and support multi-partner initiatives between different levels of government.

In connection with the launch on 8 December 2015, LPAA partners announced that local and subnational governments representing 17% of world population have increased their climate commitments, which are registered on the Non-State Actor Zone for Climate Action (NAZCA) commitments platform. Examples of such commitments include the Compact of Mayors’ work in identifying and implementing climate action in 360 cities around the world, and the Carbon-Neutral Cities Alliance, which is enabling collaboration among 17 cities to achieve at least 80% reductions in their greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) from 2000 levels by 2050.

Partners highlighted widespread action on resilience, for example, through the C40 network of the world’s mega-cities, and the Rockefeller Foundation’s work on ‘100 Resilient Cities.’ They also noted the increased availability of financing for cities and regions, for example, through the Cities Climate Leadership Alliance Finance (CCFLA) established in September 2014, and the launch of innovative financing tools such as urban green bonds.

In a press release, the LPAA highlighted the challenge of locking in climate-resilient and low-carbon pathways as cities continue to develop and expand, accounting for 60% of world population by 2030. The partnership noted that the UN has created an “urban hub” involving the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the UN Development Programme (UNDP), UN-Habitat, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), which aims to develop an action plan on cities and climate by COP 22.

The 21st session of the Conference of Parties (COP 21) to the UNFCCC is convening in Paris, France, from 30 November-11 Decmeber 2015. [LPAA Press Release] [LPAA Website] [IISD RS Coverage of COP 21]


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