COP30 may have burned out, but local leaders sparked hope for the future

COP30’s official negotiations in Belem ended on a disappointing note, starting with the absence of the US at the table and ending with an actual fire on the premises. Unfortunately, the metaphorical fire was not lit under the attendees to get them to reach a consensus around the role of fossil fuels in climate change.

The scene in Belem was vastly different than that at the COP30 Local Leaders Summit, which took place in Rio the week before the start of official negotiations. Several thousand local and regional leaders, climate networks, philanthropic organisations and private sector entities from around the world were brought together by the COP30 Presidency and Bloomberg Philanthropies in partnership with organisations such as C40 Cities, America is All In, Climate Mayors, Global Covenant of Mayors and ICLEI.

Contrary to the US federal government’s lack of involvement at the official negotiating table, over 30 US mayors and 100 US local leaders attended the sessions in Rio, the largest delegation from any country other than the host country of Brazil. This large showing of many major US cities was a clear indication that, regardless of federal inaction – and even pulling back from almost completed projects such as already approved offshore wind farms – cities and states are determined to move forward and share best practices on how to get there.

Many cities came prepared with actions they had already taken, as well as pledges for action to be taken in the next year, regardless of the stance on climate change of their respective national governments or states.

See also: COP30 outcome: A ‘moral failure’ or realistic in current geopolitical climate?

For instance, I was honoured to moderate a panel during the C40 Summit which featured the mayors of Austin, Texas; Turin, Italy; Athens, Greece; and the Director General of the Beijing Municipal Ecology & Environment Bureau. 

Each panellist shared specific, concrete actions they have taken to decrease emissions in their cities, and 57 C40 cities are implementing at least one high impact action that accelerates grid decarbonisation and increased use of renewable energy on buildings.

Turning back to the US, America is All In, a climate network comprised of US non-federal leaders – states, cities, businesses, universities and cultural institutions – had a robust session featuring most of the US delegation. The session had a spirit of collective action and forward momentum, no matter the obstacles. In particular, the importance of working with the private sector on financing in the face of an absent federal government. New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham focused on the importance of ‘marrying moral imperative with economic sense’.

Gina McCarthy, former White House National Climate Advisor under President Biden, said private sector folks should ‘come on in! Let’s work together! We can’t sugarcoat the challenges – but we can ignore them while we are here. The private sector may not be vocal, but we need to be talking to them.’ 

See also: Ignore the gloom: Why COP30 was a success

Other global cities and regions also recognise the importance of partnering with the private sector. For example, Amsterdam has joined 20 other cities to form the C40 Clean Investment Accelerator, which provides funding that works alongside private capital to stand up renewable energy and green infrastructure projects across numerous sectors.

In a similar vein, a convene of 10 mayors met to start an initiative on green data centres, co-chaired by Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego and Melbourne Lord Mayor Nicholas Reece. These 10 mayors have signed on and hope to balance jobs and investments with concerns about energy and water use, creating an opportunity for the private sector to work alongside global cities in promoting economically and environmentally responsible, energy efficient data centre infrastructure. 

With the explosive growth of data centres and AI, city leaders will need to share information and work together with the private sector, and this initiative is the start of a global subnational conversation that will hopefully influence the world’s leaders to prioritise clean energy and energy efficiency in the AI transition.

The COP30 Local Leaders Summit left attendees energised – rather than many official COP30 speeches that simply restated the urgency of the climate crisis. Speaker after speaker put their money where their mouth is by stating what their cities and states are actually doing to solve the crisis. International bodies should consider doing the same, so we don’t end up in Turkey at COP31 surrounded COP31 surrounded by a blaze of empty promises.