On Day 3 of COP29, 13 November, Brazil submitted an updated national climate goal – its Nationally Determined Contribution. While Brazil’s new commitment to reduce emissions by 59-67 percent by 2035, as compared to 2005, made headlines, local and regional governments around the world – and their partners – are paying attention to the how of the NDC – which strongly integrates Brazil’s subnational governments into the national plan and actions.
Brazil’s submission serves as an excellent example of how to scale up the role of local and other subnational governments in the planning and implementation of climate goals.
Local and other subnational governments have been working to ensure that the next round of NDCs – due in 2025 – incorporate all levels of government into the planning, financing and implementation of national climate goals. COP28’s Coalition for High Ambition Multilevel Partnerships (CHAMP) for Climate Action has been a driving force towards these enhanced NDCs.
Brazil’s NDC is also a pioneering example that accelerates the implementation the COP28 outcomes, which urged Parties to adopt inclusive, multilevel, gender-responsive and cooperative action, language that was reflected in the main asks of the COP29 Joint Position for the Local Governments and Municipal Authorities Constituency, the voice of cities and regions within the UNFCCC process.
Gregor Roberson, Special Envoy for Cities in CHAMP, said in a statement on LinkedIn, “Brazil’s leadership to prioritize partnerships with cities, states and regions to deliver climate action is a powerful example to the nearly 200 nations now writing their 10 year climate plans.”
Marjorie Kauffmann, State Secretary for Environment and Infrastructure, State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil and Vice President for ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, congratulated her country’s submission. She said, “The NDC presented in advance and with an audacious target goes back to what Brazil wants to demonstrate as an example and, more than that, to practice within its means. So we understand that bringing in the target early and bringing in federalism is fundamental and will bring a gain in multilevel governance, which is the key to making public policies on climate change really work.”
How did we get to this NDC?
Brazil was one among the original endorsers of CHAMP at COP28. The initiative commits endorsing countries to enhance cooperation with their local, regional and other subnational governments – including cities, towns, states and regions – to collectively pursue efforts to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels.
C40 Cities has been working closely with all levels of Brazilian government to advance the implementation of CHAMP. Co-Chair Mayor of Freetown Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr OBE said, “At a time when global climate leadership is in question, it is encouraging to see Brazil’s updated NDC put forward such a bold plan.”
In June, Brazil’s association of cities Frente Nacional de Prefeitas e Prefeitos (FNP) announced a resolution on CHAMP at the ICLEI World Congress, in which mayors pledged their support for CHAMP and called for agility in structuring multilevel climate governance in Brazil. The letter also reaffirmed their commitment to acting jointly with state and federal governments in the execution and implementation of the climate agreements assumed by Brazil at international level.
Axel Schmidt Grael, Mayor, Municipality of Niterói, Brazil, is Vice President of FNP and chair of the Climate Action Support Portfolio for the ICLEI Global Executive Committee, played an instrumental role in bringing forward the CHAMP resolution. He was pleased with the new NDC submission, saying, “Local governments have an important role to play in this, so it is in this sense that I very much welcome what the Brazilian government has presented in this new NDC.”
The LGMA has been an active supporter of CHAMP since COP28. Throughout the year, the Constituency coordinated new strategies and resources through the CHAMP Working Group, and built advocacy for CHAMP as a central strategy within the LGMA COP29 Joint Position.
In October, Yunus Arikan, focal point for the LGMA and Director of Global Advocacy for ICLEI, and Gregor Roberson, Special Envoy for Cities in CHAMP, released a letter to the COP Troika – the Presidencies of COP28, COP29 and COP30 – emphasising that CHAMP offers a pathway to accelerate inclusive, multilevel climate action, mobilise financing, and align the climate and sustainable development agendas and calling on the COP Presidencies Troika to institutionalise subnational collaboration within the Paris Agreement framework.
