The United Nations' climate summit is to kick off in Glasgow in less than two months. Six years after the signature of the Paris Agreement, national governments are to provide concrete answers on how they plan to meet their climate targets. As the world goes through unprecedented heat waves, fires and floods, COP26 will put the spotlight on the need for higher climate ambition to accelerate the reduction of greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions. The formal inclusion of local and regional governments and their climate contributions remains a key demand that EU cities and regions will put forward in Glasgow, in close cooperation with international networks of sub-national government actors.

The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) and the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union have joined efforts to bring together local and regional authorities, Member States' permanent representations, the European Commission and the European Parliament to discuss how to ensure that the Renovation Wave accelerates the social and economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic while greening a sector that accounts for 40% of energy consumption and 36% of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in the EU. The third CoR multilevel climate and energy dialogue provided an open exchange platform between different levels of government to build bridges for the full involvement of local and regional authorities in the design and implementation of national resilience and recovery plans. ​

​​​​The Covenant of Mayors was launched in 2008 by the European Commission to support cities and regions with delivering the EU's 2020 climate and energy targets. The Covenant is now reinforcing its role by aligning its climate pledge to the EU's objective of reaching climate neutrality by 2050 together with the launch of a new Chamber of National Ambassadors to support the rollout of the Covenant in each Member State. The Covenant of Mayors counts more than 10,000 signatories that receive technical support and financial guidance to design and implement energy and climate plans that contribute to keeping the global temperature rise below 1.5℃ - the highest ambition of the Paris climate agreement. ​ ​​

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