Three years after the Paris agreement, time has come to put the accord into motion. That is the core objective of the United Nations Conference on Climate Change – COP24 which will take place in Katowice from 3 to 14 December 2018.

The 2015 Paris Agreement set a global goal of limiting warming to “well below" 2°C above preindustrial levels, and to “pursue efforts" to limit warming to no more than 1.5 °C. However, Nationally Determined Contributions, which are the climate commitments made by national governments under the Paris accord, are today clearly insufficient and will lead to temperatures rise by 3°C above pre-industrial levels in 2100.

As confirmed by the United Nations #EmissionsGap 2018 report, the efforts put into place by cities and regions worldwide are poorly documented. Yet, local governments across the world are combating global warming tirelessly. The Global Covenant of Mayors and C40 are just two initiatives that well illustrate how cities and regions are leading climate action on the ground.

At COP24, the European Committee of the Regions will therefore have a clear mandate. That of the defending a role for local and regional governments in the global climate governance, a formal inclusion of cities and regions in the actual implementation of the Paris accord as well as the inclusion of Regionally and Locally Determined Contributions within national government's pledges.

The European Committee of the Regions delegation to COP24 is composed of the following members: