United Cities and Local Governments and their partners networks of local authorities will be present in Copenhagen during the two weeks of negotiation around Climate Change texts.
Numerous representatives from all over the world will come to claim the voice of local and regional governments. Over a thousand of them have got accreditation to participate to the UN Summit.
They would like the role of local and regional governments to be explicitly recognized in the political text that will probably be the outcome of Copenhagen.
The following sentence is being proposed to the negotiators by the key networks of local authorities : « Parties recognize the role which local and sub-national governments play in taking mitigation and adaptation initiatives and will seek their active participation in the immediate implementation of this agreement and definition of relevant actions following this agreement. »
« We have no choice. An ambitious deal is necessary for our common future. This is the main message that cities and regions of the world want to deliver to you, » has declared Ronan Dantec, Vice Mayor of Nantes and head of the UCLG Climate Negotiation Group of Cities during the opening of the Summit. « We commit to take our part of the common effort. Our cities and regions are already undertaking ambitious actions and cooperation and are sharing their experience, » he added.
In the meantime of the round of negotiations, local governments all around the world are still campaigning for an ambitious, effective and truly global deal to be sealed in Copenhagen.