Keynote: Working collaboratively with other cities to set and achieve ambitious climate policy

“Climate action must be a collaborative effort” – it’s a maxim that everybody involved in environmental strategy at city level is familiar with, but that makes it no less true. This session puts the spotlight on how the role of collaborating with peers becomes instrumental in exchanging knowledge, sharing experiences, and forming partnerships that enhance the collective impact of climate initiatives. This incorporates: 

Knowledge sharing, learning networks and advocacy – panellists will emphasise the value of knowledge exchange and learning networks among cities. They will explore how sharing best practices, lessons learned, and successful climate strategies can inspire and inform the development of ambitious climate policies in other cities, and provide working examples of how and where they’ve learned critical lessons on their own climate acition journeys. This includes looking into the potential of city collaboration as a means of amplifying the collective voice of cities in advocating for climate action on regional, national, and international stages.

Policy co-creation and local capacity – exploring the process of co-creating climate policies through collaborative efforts. Panellists will explore how cities can leverage collective expertise to design policies that address shared challenges and opportunities, ensuring that climate initiatives are comprehensive and inclusive of diverse perspectives. This also includes the importance of keeping local context and capacity central to these policies, and the need to continually consider the individual needs and situations of each city.