(Montreal) Reforms are needed so that cities and other subnational governments can better counter the destruction of nature on their territories, they pleaded on Sunday on the sidelines of the 15e United Nations Conference on Biodiversity (COP15), in Montreal.
“Cities and subnational governments want to do more, and for that we need to have resources and be consulted,” said the Mayor of Montreal, Valérie Plante, at the opening of the 7e summit of the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI, according to English acronym), which is held at the Palais des Congrès on Sunday and Monday.
This is the message that the organization’s 2,500 member local governments intend to deliver with one voice to the representatives of national governments gathered at COP15, as well as at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January.
“Our ambition must be global, but our actions must be local,” said Martine Biron, Minister of International Relations and La Francophonie of Quebec, who is a member of ICLEI, stressing that subnational governments and cities are “at the front” to fight against the decline of biodiversity.
The actions of these local governments have direct effects on the protection of nature, which makes their place “around the table” essential, Mayor Plante continued, calling for the combination of efforts between national and subnational governments.
Together, we can go faster and further to protect biodiversity.
Valérie Plante, Mayor of Montreal
Too often, funding for solutions comes from national governments, which then distribute it to sub-national governments, laments ICLEI, which advocates reform of ‘existing financial infrastructure’ to allow cities and regions better access to finance nature-based solutions.
“We call on the financial community to create new financial instruments directly accessible to local and sub-national governments, which will enable the rapid integration of nature into the planning, implementation and management of interventions in our cities”, declared in particular a coalition of mayors in a call launched ahead of the meeting.
Companies, especially those with data on environmental issues, are also encouraged to collaborate with sub-national governments.
“We call on the private sector to be our partner in knowledge, action and financing in order to move towards nature-based solutions to find solutions to challenges in urban areas”, plead these mayors , including those in Athens, Austin, Barranquilla, Kigali, Melbourne, Paris, São Paulo and Montreal.