Local Climate Action Summit

In 2015, the city of Paris hosted our first climate action summit with local leaders.
Back then, many questioned whether mayors and local leaders could make an impact on climate change.
These days, we know they can.
Time and again, cities and states have delivered where national governments have fallen short, building sustainable transit, retrofitting buildings, cleaning the air, and so much more.
Under Mayor Sady Khan's leadership, London has helped lead the way.
His climate efforts have reduced citywide emissions by roughly 37%, improving air quality, all while growing the economy.
Bloomberg philanthropist has been glad to support this work through Breathe London, which shows that cleaner air, improved public health and economic prosperity go hand in hand.
Three years ago at London Climate Action Week, Mayor Con and I announced Breathe cities to get more cities to join in.
This year, we are taking the work to the next level and expanding to even more cities.
This would not be possible without our partners.
I want to give a special thanks to the C 40 cities and the Clean Air Fund.
We're looking forward to seeing the progress that comes out this week.
Thanks for being part of it.
All the best.
Please welcome to the stage, Patty Harris, CEO of Bloomberg Philanthropies.
Good afternoon, everyone.
On behalf of our entire team at Bloomberg Philanthropies, I want to welcome you to the third Local Climate Action Summit, or LCS, as we call it colloquially.
A special thank you to the mayor of London, our good friend City Con, Secretary-General Gutiaz.
Thank you.
I also want to thank the City of London Corporation, the London Climate Action Week Team, and so many others for your wonderful partnership this week.
Our goal today is to bring together local and regional leaders from around the world to share great ideas and spur climate action.
It's been incredible to see mayors and governors continue to meet the moment when it comes to leading and tackling climate change.
Today is just another opportunity to raise our ambitions and deepen our connections.
As you just heard Mike say, Being here in London with Mayor Khan means a lot to us.
We first met Mayor Khan more than a decade ago when he was running for office.
We were so impressed by his ambition and talent and clearly we weren't the only ones.
I hope you remember that day too.
It was a very important day for Bloomberg.
You have been one of the most active mayors in the world when it comes to the fight against climate change and London is so much better for it.
In 2021, he told us that his bold initiative to use low cost air quality sensors to improve air pollution.
This is something that the Bloomberg administration championed in New York City.
And so naturally, we were eager to support Mayor Khan's air quality efforts and have seen enormous progress.
Since then, we've spread this great idea around the globe through our Breeze Cities Initiative.
Through it, we've helped install more than 1,200 air quality data sensors in 14 cities, pass 26 local clean air policies around the world.
These efforts have helped reduce nitrogen dioxide, a pollutant that comes from engines and power plants by 14%.
And they've saved more than 13,000 lives.
Today, I'm pleased to share that Bloomberg Philanthropies will be recommitting ourselves to this work by investing another $45 million in the fight against climate change.
And we'll be adding two more cities, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and Madrid, Spain.
The latest investment will help cities install air quality sensors, use data to identify the sources of air pollution in their city, and educate residents on the issue, and so much more.
Together with our partners at Clean Air Fund and, of course, C 40, we will continue to improve air quality for millions of people around the globe.
Here to talk more about this is the wonderful Mayor of London Mayor Coon.
Thank you.
We can do better.
Come on.
That was Patty Harris, come on.
Well, Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to London Climate Action Week.
What started as an ambitious idea has grown into the world's largest citywide climate festival, bringing together more than 100,000 people across over 1,300 events to share ideas, force partnerships, and drive action.
Now, I do realize there is something else taking place across the globe, which is creating huge excitement.
So as a gesture of London's friendship with the Secretary-General, I wish your beloved Portugal every success both in tonight's game and the rest of the World Cup, unless, of course, you come up against England.
But jokes aside, I want to thank the Secretary-General not only for being here today, but for his tireless efforts to keep climate action at the top of the international agenda and to hold national leaders to the promises they have made.
Please join me in showing our appreciation to the Geng.
Now, this year marks ten years since I was first elected as mayor of London.
When I took office in 2016, I promised to be the greenest mayor London had ever had.
So rather than talk about climate action in abstract terms, let me tell you about what that decade of action looks like through the eyes of an ordinary Londoner.
Imagine a Londoner waking up this morning.
They step outside into a neighborhood with more trees, more green spaces, and cleaner air than existed ten years ago.
Their children might walk to school along a school street without traffic, making the journey safer and less polluted or attend a school with air quality filters and solar panels on the roof.
That it's time to get to work.
Today, they might cycle on a network that has increased fivefold in size, board, one of London's 3,000 plus zero emission buses or travel on the Elizabeth line, the Super loop, or extensions to the overground and northern line that have transformed connectivity across our city.
And as they travel, they're breathing cleaner air.
You know, when I was first elected as mayor, I was told under the existing policies, it would take almost 200 years for London's air to meet legal standards.
We did it in nine.
Thanks to measures such as the ultra low emission zone, toxic air pollution has dramatically fallen across our city, improving health and protecting future generations.
Later that day, our Londoner might spend time in one of our parks, wetlands or green spaces we've improved or created as part of a program that has seen us plant more than 640,000 trees and restore habitats across London, bringing wildlife back into our city from bats and bees, and, of course, our famous beavers back in London after 400 years.
Those of you who know your showbiz might recognize the names.
The first beaver we called Justin beaver, The second, Scone Beaver, and they've had kids or kids.
Now, over the last ten years, London's carbon emissions have fallen by almost 25%.
At the same time, our economy has continued to grow.
Climate action has not held London back.
It's helped instead drive investment, create jobs, improve public health, and enhance the quality of life of Londoners.
And that's perhaps the most important lesson from the last ten years.
Climate action is not a sacrifice, it's an opportunity.
But London's story doesn't end at London's borders.
What we've achieved here has helped inspire action around the world.
As Mike said, three years ago, here at London Climate Action Week, Mike Bloomberg and I launched Breathe Cities.
Our goal was simple, to state the lessons we had learned in New York and London and help other cities tackle air pollution and improve public health.
And today, as Pata said, Breathe Cities is expanding to support 16 ambitious cities across the globe, benefiting a combined population of 88 million people.
Ten cities have committed to introducing clean air zones by 2030.
And we're delighted, as you've heard, to welcome Madrid and Addis Ababa to this growing coalition of cities that are proving climate action works, as I call them, the second and third greatest cities on the planet.
Because that is the story of London and is a story of cities everywhere.
When national politics becomes difficult, cities keep moving.
When others hesitate, cities innovate.
When some seek to delay action, cities get on with the job.
So let me end by saying this.
Climate change is a global challenge but demands global leadership, international cooperation, and a shared determination to act.
Few people have done more to champion that cause than our next speaker at a time when the world needs urgency.
The world needs ambition, and the world needs moral clarity.
He has been a tireless advocate for climate action and a powerful voice for those most vulnerable to its impacts.
It's therefore a great honor to welcome someone I hope will show appreciation to by raising the roof, the Secretary-General of the United Nations António Guterres.
I Dear friends, it's a great pleasure to be back among leaders who are not waiting for change, but delivering it.
This morning here in London delivered I delivered the message to the world and no better place to do it than London.
We just heard why, thanks to the action of the mayor and his team in the city during the last ten years.
We are facing two crises, a climate crisis racing towards dangerous tipping points.
One in which a temporary overshoot of 1.5 degree limit is now inevitable and every fraction of a degree will decide how much damage people and communities face and an energy crisis unfolding before our eyes, driving up prices, fueling inflation, and straining families, communities, and public finance.
The two crises share the same source, fossil fuels, and they demand the same answer a fast, fair transition to clean energy and far greater protection for people already facing climate harm.
No group of leaders understand this more concretely than you.
You are the global ambition You are aware global ambition meets daily reality and where commitments are tested through local responsibility.
You are the leaders closest to the people.
The first they turn to when it rises, floods it or power fails.
And my message was also clear the clean energy future is already here.
Renewables are the cheapest, fastest, and most reliable sort of new power.
But transition is still not fast enough, not fair enough, and not close enough to people's lives.
That is why local and regional leadership is central in this regard.
Because climate action becomes real through the services people rely on, the infrastructure they use every day, the air they breathe, the bills they pay, and the protection they receive when disaster strikes, and because you are turning the clean energy future from a global promise into something people can see, feel, and trust city by city, region by region, community by community.
Today, I have three asks of you.
First, keep ing and over delivering.
Cities, states, and regions are already setting the bar higher than most national governments and showing what 1.5 aligned action looks like.
Your actions give investors certainty and citizens confidence that climate targets will be realized.
And you can go further still by turning ambition into pertable solutions at scale.
Second, keep using your voice and political influence.
In many countries, climate action is under attack from partisan politics and fossil fuel interests, but public support remains high.
Four out of five people worldwide want their governments to take stronger climate action.
Stand up to fossil fuel interests and their political enablers, support science and counter disinformation and use our offices and platforms to tell the story of climate action.
Be homes, better transport, better jobs, lower bills, and cleaner air.
And third, keep working together and supporting each other.
Geopolitical tensions and divisions are rising precisely where international cooperation and solidarity are most needed.
In today's fractured world, governors, mayors and local representatives are proving that cooperation can still deliver.
Your networks and coalitions are practical, powerful, and global.
Continue to share what works, practical models that others can adapt and scale from clean energy and resilient infrastructure to local finance and community engagement.
Continue to prove that solidarity is stronger than division.
Dear friends, the climate fight will not be won in negotiating rooms, but through the actions we take in our communities.
As we enter this of implementation, local leaders like you have an even greater responsibility to ensure that transition moves faster, becomes fairer, and deliver security, resilience, and prosperity for all.
Greater responsibility should come with a greater say in national and international processes, and you have my full support.
And I hope we can transform the UN in order to make local power voice more heard and more followed in the work of the United Nations.
So keep pushing national governments further.
Keep delivering for your communities, keep showing what climate leadership looks like, and know that the UN will keep working closely with you every step of the way.
And I thank you.
Please welcome to the stage, Teresa Rivera, Executive Vice President for a clean, just and competitive transition at the European Commission.
Good afternoon, friends and colleagues.
It's so good to be here today, and it is so difficult to take the floor after these two fantastic leaders, one of them leading the transformation of a great city.
The other one leading the transformation of our multilateral system in a difficult time.
And, of course, being hosted by Pay in a moment where the combination of the different initiatives, joining forces is so, so, so important.
Yes.
We know that climate ambition is increasingly part of the reality.
We know that being part of a community that is bold and courageous is key in order to keep on building the next phase of action, the next round of ambition, the next capacity to ensure that citizens feel belonging, owning a project that defines their future.
And we know that this happens at the very local level in the streets, in the neighborhoods, in the common infrastructure, and how we can provide these solutions.
It is here where the real test lies city by city, street by street, home by home.
Prevalcing global and local has been part of what we have witnessing in these recent years, and this sustained political will on climate action combines all.
But it depends just as much on the shared ambition between different levels of governance.
This is not to decide whether it is your responsibility, my responsibility, or the responsibility of someone else.
This is shared responsibility.
This is a great adventure to join efforts, to join hands, to understand that complicity among neighbors between different layers of decision is key for success.
This transformation is about improving lives, delivering sustainable housing, transport, healthier environment to all.
It is about mitigation.
It's about greening the cities.
It is about ensuring that we can live with high quality of life.
Today, 47% of Europe's electricity comes from renewable sources.
This is great.
For industries.
But this is great for citizens, and this is great for cities.
And there has been an increasing engagement from local communities to big cities to develop this reality with the rooftops, with energy communities, identifying whether we speak about the sun, the geothermal solutions, the small investments that make a great difference when being act together.
And yes, as the Secretary-General was saying, clean energy transition is no longer only a climate imperative.
It is a social shelter.
It is thinking on the air we breathe.
It is thinking about counting on public transportation, that it is not only high quality, but it is compatible with lively cities.
But it is also thinking that we can rely much more on local solutions than depending on something that we don't know how it is going to evolve, as it was the case for fossil fuels.
It is thinking about energy that we can control.
It is thinking and reminding ourselves that when anyone says, No, the green policies are not anymore a fashionable scene, we may speak out and say, Well, I prefer to drink freshwater that is not polluted or breath cleaner that does not bring me to the hospital.
It is that what is at stake.
But this big transformation requires the funding, the efforts being supported by every different level of governance, and it needs to be transitioned in a way that is fair, that is just.
Heat waves, floods, and rising pressure on infrastructure are now part of formal life.
And I appreciate the efforts of Mayor Kan to give us a good example in these days, to what extent this heat is with us maybe to remain, but counting on a shadow because of the greening of the city makes our life a little bit easier.
I think that if we bear in mind that social equity for a fair future is important and the deep transformation that we are promoting requires a broad support by the citizens, we need to think about adaptation.
We know that this is not necessary and probably we have not paid the attention that it requires.
But we have tools.
We need to think on how to design resilient cities.
To use innovative tools that are emerging at the very local level.
So to figure out how stress tests for identifying critical environmental and social points may help citizens, mayors to take decisions.
To view what a local scenario may look in different contexts.
Allowing to integrate data from various socioeconomic disciplines to enable tailored solutions.
For example, how to treat heat islands, flood prone areas, vulnerable housing, disadvantaged groups, percentage of the elderly population that could have much more weakness against this climate or heat impacts.
This links knowledge, best available science and risk, public management, so to take sound decisions because this is also important to use knowledge, science, data, facts, and not lies, fakes, or wishful thinking that do create additional problems.
We also innovate when we promote a combination of natural based solutions and energy efficient solar power coal public buildings like schools, hospitals, libraries.
These are safe havens for vulnerable citizens during extreme heat.
And this is going to be increasingly important all over the world because nature, to a certain extent is our strongest ally.
This is why thinking about green cities is so key.
If cities are where the action happens, finance is what unlocks this action.
And yes, we have been trying to develop this exercise within the European Commission, so to support initiatives coming from citizens, ensuring that access to financing and making projects bankable is there.
We have been supporting the US cities mission so to ensure climate neutrality as smart cities developing their projects count on the back from the other levels of decision, providing good conditions and guidelines so that member states thinking about regional cohesion to take this into consideration the smaller scale, the citizens, the renovation of buildings, the local action, the greening of the cities.
And we also feel proud working with the Global Cobinet of Mayors for climate and energy that is so active, so effective, so to support our allies on adaptation, on reducing emissions, on affordable energy and well isolated housing.
Over 14,000 cities have joined the initiative already.
Together, they prove that local leadership drives both mitigation and adaptation.
Building on the momentum from Belen, the work now is action on the ground, action, action, action, action.
It is what people expect from us to deliver.
And this is where it is my pleasure to reassure our full commitment to keep on working with you.
Thanks a lot.
Please welcome to the stage, Mayor Oleksandar Snkovch of Niklav, Ukraine, Valerie Pekres, President of the Paris region, France, Olf kel, the head of International Adaptation to Climate Change Division, Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, Germany.
Moderated by Mark Watts, Executive Director for C 40.
Because I'm not.
No problem.
Fantastic.
This session is entitled Climate Action that Works, and we're going to be focusing on the role that local, regional, state leaders can play in driving investment, innovation, and of course, implementation on climate action.
And In the context that we've heard about so much already this morning, particularly from the Secretary-General, a moment of great global uncertainty, but where we see cities and states remaining one of the clearest pathways for turning climate goals into tangible results.
I am going to start first, Mayor Skech with you.
I think we heard from the Secretary-General just now and earlier this morning His message of the period that we're in at the moment is a tale of two crises, a climate crisis, and then the mother of all energy shocks as he put it.
But in your context, you're also experiencing the ongoing effects of a devastating war in Ukraine and yet you have been using as mayor, the city climate finance gap fund to improve energy security while accelerating your climate goals all whilst you're dealing with that conflict.
Can you just tell us how are you thinking about issues like energy alongside economic development whilst also managing security? Thank you for the question.
It's a big honor for me to be here today with you.
As you understand today in Ukraine, we have bigger problems than the energy saving, green transition and decarbonization.
But in the same time, we think about it and we implement it.
We started the project, for example, the city of Maklaf.
It's a half 1 million city, which A port, second biggest port in Ukraine.
We are situated 50 kilometers from the front line, and we were the city that stopped Russian invasion in 2022 and pushed the Russians back to the occupied temporary occupied territories.
And we understood while the wartime that the energy independence, it's not only about efficiency and green transition.
It's more about survival and energy independence.
Before the full scale invasion, we started to cooperate with the World Bank on changing of our Boller House.
In May, we have different temperatures from minus ten up to 55 by Celsius.
We have district heating enterprises, which we started to modernize and at the end of the project, we had 35% economy of the natural gas.
So we decreased the amount of consumption and increase the efficiency of these water houses, which actually helped us to save some money to move forward with the changes of the networks of these pipes.
Together with EBRD, we started to change our public transportation from the one that use fossil oil, fossil energy resources to energy saving trolley buses and trams.
Again, trolley buses with the batteries that gave us ability to move with the 20 kilometers without the charging gave us a really um efficient way to work while the blackouts.
As you understand, Russia attacks our energy infrastructure, leaving us without the energy, the electricity and so on.
So that's why we have to think to be creative.
And at the same time, we do all these changes on our enterprises, implementing the solar panels, the gas pistons and so on to be more independent from the central grid.
And at the same time, we are ready to share with this experience with the world because we say that to have the resilieient city, you need to have decentralized because we try to centralize everything in the modern world.
But the key to resilience is to decentralize, to have it like a backup.
Moreover, together with our rockets today in Ukraine will help Russia to be less carbonized, destroying the oil processing plants, we move them to the bicycles.
So I hope that, let's say, involvement in a green transition from Ukraine will also be valued.
The end, I will say that our city as a partner of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, we work on a master plan that we plan to implement after the end of the war.
Together with Bloomberg Philanthropies, we use the best practices, and we involve youth as a moving force to not only think about future, but plan it and prepare projects to implement them after the end of the war.
Thank you.
Thank you, Matt.
I don't want to steal your line, but you used an amazing phrase in a meeting earlier when you say, you're not building back better.
But yeah, we reviewed the war not only as a disaster, but as a chance to rethink our existence and the future of our cities.
We don't want to build back better, but build back greener but B forward greener.
Build forward greener.
I like that phrase.
Thank you.
Mr.
President Pres, turning to you and Anil de France, and One of the biggest challenges facing climate action everywhere, it's a constant theme in these kind of gatherings is mobilizing the scale of investment that we need to move from laudable commitments to real implementation.
In Ile de France, you've been such a pioneer in showing how regional government can really be innovative in the use of financial tools, particularly around green bonds, but also decarbonization funds.
So perhaps if you can give us some insight into the lessons that you have learned about using those tools to accelerate climate action and how regional governments can most actively partner with the finance sector with investors to mobilize that capital.
Absolutely.
Here today, I represent Paris regions for 12 million inhabitants, one of the most populated regions of Europe.
But I also represent regions four and the 02 Coalition.
Why regions regions? Because we are architects of ecological transition.
We are enablers, because we fund local governments in order to help them to do the ecological transition investments.
And we are also equalizers equalizers, because Paris, of course, is the richest city in France.
But around Paris, you have the poorest suburbs of the country, and you have also 75% of rural areas.
And the region is made of territories that are very different.
And as you know, we are suffering the an unprecedented heat wave in Paris at the moment, which is it's been lasting for already ten days and which makes the country on its knees because we are not prepared to live above 40 degrees.
And are you talking about financing ecological transition.
Ecological transition is about mitigation, but it's also about adaptation to climate change.
And as you know, regions represent local governments represent 80% of the investment in ecological transition, and we only receive ten to 20% of the international funds for ecological transition.
So of course, we need to borrow.
We need to leverage our public funds with private funds and find investors.
And for example, in my region, we launched ten years ago when I was elected the Revolution for Transportation for public transportation system.
Some of you may have come to Paris and may have seen some of our major investments for the Olympic Games, for example.
And we are opening 300 kilometers of new metro lines, and we are changing basically all the trains, all the buses, all of the trams, and we are decarbonizing them.
Um, and this is a 30 billion investment.
And to fund this 30 billion investment, we went to the markets and we launched the first, I think, European green bond issuance.
And we were oversubscribed three times by the markets.
Why? Because, of course, the banks and investors have ESG obligations, and investing in ecological transition is bankable.
That's what I came here to tell you.
It's bankable because, of course, if we do clean transportation, we have more people in our transportation system.
And that's what happened in France.
And we had the opportunity to give a single ticket for two euros for the whole 12 million inhabitants of the region.
And that's a game changer in the use of transportation.
Of course, we have, for the first time in the history of France, a decrease in the use of private cars.
So that's what I've came here to tell you.
It's bankable to work on ecological transition.
We also put on foot decarbonization fund.
What is a decarbonization fund? It's a fund where the region is putting around 50 million, and we are leveraging this fund with the private sectors, with private banks, with private investors.
And we take stakes in the SMEs that are very active into the ecological transition to make them grow, to make their products cheaper.
And we are doing that.
So yes, I think we can attract private investments.
And that's what I came to tell you.
We are also leader of a European program, which is called Greenov and which includes your city, D Mayor, and lots of European regions.
Green Growth is a European Union funded program which makes all the local governments look at how we can benchmark the best initiatives in ecological transition, the ones which give the best yield, the best return on investment.
So yes, finance should be mobilized.
We need the funds.
We need the funds to invest in the future.
And we public, local governments.
We de risk this investment.
Because of course we cannot go bankrupt, because, of course, we are planning forward.
And so it's a safe bet to invest in ecological transition.
And I hope the Bloomberg Foundation will take the lead on this subject.
Wonderful.
It's a very clear message for any mayors or governors thinking about issuing a green bond.
They are bankrupt.
I think that that story of three times oversubscribed, I hear that in so many places.
So it's a tragedy that not all local authorities and regional authorities have the ability to be able to issue green bonds, but we know they really work, and we need to unlock those powers.
Okay, moving along now, Mr.
Ykl and you were introduced as the head of International adaptation of the climate Division in the German federal government.
But of course, you're also in that capacity serving as the co chair of the Coalition for High ambition multilevel Partnerships, Chm Initiative at C 40, we're very invested in, which is helping national governments work with sub national governments in partnership in delivering climate actions.
And we've heard a lot of great projects from states, from cities today.
But for those to work, they often need financing from higher levels of the public sector from government and from private sources.
So from the perspective of national climate strategies and investment frameworks, how do you ensure that local governments are not just the recipients of funding, but genuinely co designers in it? Yeah, thank you very much for the question.
Indeed, this is a tricky question.
It's not given.
If you work in politics and you know how difficult it is working across the levels and taking into account multiple voices in your country, in your regions, bigger cities, but also the smaller cities.
Therefore, it's a multilateral partnership has the momentum is there, but it has to be taken up seriously.
And because climate action, as we heard, becomes real in cities and regions, mitigation and, of course, also adaptation.
And that's where CAMP comes in, and we think CHAMP is so important.
Um, We enter a new phase.
This is 77 endorsing countries and the EU in endorsing champ.
We have a government led structure now.
We have a steering group of governments.
We have an advisory board of regions and cities which will meet tomorrow for the first time and there we will work on I would say a number of issues.
We have worked on an implementation roadmap, which will be launched later today here looking at strengthening recognition and the uptake of multi level governance catalyzing partnership in countries and also, of course, looking at the scaling up and unlocking of finance.
For bigger cities, bigger regions, it's easier than for smaller ones or medium sized ones for them.
A issuing bonds is not that that easy, maybe.
So the finance architecture also has to better reflect the needs of the local authorities and the local level, and, of course, also a bit vice versa.
So that's where we are where we are working on.
We are not creating new institutions, new processes.
And adding to the overall relatively complex or complex climate policy on the multilateral level, but we will work with the institutions already in place from the finance sector, but also the institutions like C 40, GCO, and Eclay.
We will work with the Secretariat at the World Resources Institute generously supported by Bloomberg philanthropies, and we will work towards the aim that having a higher recognition of the importance of a multi level partnership, coming together, working together in designing climate policy with a local level, with a regional level, and on the national level.
That's what we are working on in the uh coming years and we hope that you will join us in working with that as endorsing country or partner of Chan.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Yeah.
I think a very well deserved round of applause.
Germany's leadership along with Brazil of the champ initiative is so important to that multi level collaboration.
I think we've got time for one lightning fast final round.
It's going to be oh, no, I'm getting the shake of the head.
We've not got time for one like this.
F question.
Let's have a huge round of applause for this fantastic panel.
Thank you, everyone.
Please welcome to the stage, Lord Mayor Nick Reese of Melbourne, Australia, and Mayor Kate Gallego of Phoenix, USA.
Well, hello everyone.
It's so great to be here.
Let's start with a quick show of hands.
Put your hand up if you used your phone for an AI search today or to catch the tube here.
Okay, so almost everyone in Phoenix, we're even using our phones to book autonomous cabs, robo taxis.
When we do a quick AI prompt, we're using ten to 30 times more energy than if we used a traditional search engine.
What makes it possible? Four Lord Mayor Reese and I on both sides of the globe isn't just our phones, though, it's data centers.
You may think of data centers as big buildings out in rural areas, but these services rely on data centers that are located in cities with more than 1,700 data centers operating in C 40 cities alone.
Our digital economies are growing fast from banking to health to AI.
So is the digital infrastructure boom and its massive appetite for urban resources.
London alone has 67% of the entire United Kingdom's data center capacity.
On the other side of the world, in the city of Melbourne, planned data centers could request up to 20 billion liters of water.
That's 4% of our city's water use.
In Phoenix, the current pipeline of data centers would double our utilities' total electricity demand.
And with these data centers emitting significant heat, there are real impacts for a city like Phoenix where we confront extreme summer temperatures.
Mayors have a key role to play.
We control zoning, climate, and key business policies that can help shape the data center sector.
Recent polling in the United States from America Is All In makes two fundamental points clear.
Voters trust local governments more than any other level of government on data centers, and voters are much more supportive of data centers when they're powered by clean energy.
As mayors, we have an opportunity to step in now to shape the future so that we can harmonize this growth with our climate goals and our residents' well being.
So today, we are proud to announce the launch of the first of its kind, a world first global urban data centers pact.
A marrow led vision.
Setting out the conditions that we mayors believe are essential for sustainable, high performing urban data centers.
The Pact covers four key areas.
First, strategic integration.
Data centers should be good neighbors, revitalizing old spaces, respecting local residents, and protecting the health and quiet of our communities.
In Phoenix, our zoning org ordinance encourages data centers to develop in the right locations to improve the streetscape and be a good neighbor.
Second, sustainability.
We're pushing for data centers to leave the fossil fuels in the ground.
And the drinking water for our residents, bringing their own clean energy to our grid.
We've seen how this is possible around the world.
London is finding ways to use heat generated by data centers to heat neighboring buildings.
Thirdly, community engagement.
We invite data centers to work with cities like true partners, investing directly in our local communities and engaging with our residents directly.
In Des Moines, there's an inspiring example.
The industry has invested directly into local training programs for underserved communities.
And fourth, affordability.
We believe data centers can be good neighbors.
We're making sure that data centers cover the cost of infrastructure needed so our residents will never foot the bill for their power, their water, or network upgrades in the form of higher monthly bills.
In Melbourne, data centers already have to pay for the water, sewage, and recycled water infrastructure upgrades they need.
So our residents don't have to cover all of those costs.
What we're doing here is putting forward a mayoral vision for the future in which cities all around the world have data centers that will power our digital world on clean energy, leaving water for our communities, grow in alignment with our city's plans and lift neighborhoods up rather than pushing them out.
Support our local economic engines, investing in green jobs and funding resilient infrastructure that serves all residents.
It's not just Mayor Giego and I bringing this vision forward.
Over 40 cities from every continent representing an amazing 90 million people have now endorsed this pact.
And just this morning, we had Copenhagen and Curzon City join us in endorsing.
Give it up for those two great cities as well.
And I've got to say, if the conversations going on in the corridors of this conference or anything to go by, there are a lot more cities coming.
There are a lot more cities coming.
And so this is a great example of people standing up.
But cities can't deliver it alone.
So we call on all levels of government to work with the private sector, to work with us to drive the development of urban data centers which meet these new standards.
Together, we can create an ambition loop that ensures the sector's growth will not come at the expense of our climate targets, our natural resources, or energy prices.
Join us.
Let's make this building rush a race to the top.
Good.
He, take, take, take take Please welcome to the stage, Josh Parker, Head of Sustainability at Nvidia, Mayor Eileen Higgins of Miami, USA, Governor Mattias Simoys of Mina Chares, Brazil, His Excellency Majid Al Sowa, CEO, Altara.
Moderated by Francine Laqua, anchor and editor at large at Bloomberg.
I Hello, everyone.
It was so inspiring, first of all, hearing from the mayors.
I mean, Mayor Gallego and Mayor Reese, thank you so much for everything that you've done.
Now, we're going to talk about rapidly rising electricity demand driven in part by AI and data center boom, but the fact that it could be colliding with infrastructure and some of these constraints, but also community expectations.
Josh, let me start with you.
Leaders in the technologies, of course, are driving transformation.
Companies like NVIDIA really sit at the center of this conversation on AI energy demand and digital infrastructure.
So as AI adoption accelerates, how do you look at sustainable growth? We come at it from two perspectives.
In the first place, we recognize the impacts that data centers have on communities, and we want to try to find a way for data centers to be sustainable.
We think that they are, they can be.
We've got a lot of examples of that, and our innovation is really driving us towards a sustainable data center framework.
Our recent reference design for NVIDIA data centers includes direct to ship liquid cooling where the water that cools the GPUs is circulated in a closed loop and doesn't evaporate, which dramatically reduces the water consumption of AI data centers, making them much more viable even in water constrained areas of the world.
And the energy efficiency of the data centers continues to improve at about ten times per year.
The same inference workload that you were running on a large language model just a year ago probably now uses one tenth of the energy that it used to.
That's been a consistent trend over the past decade of energy efficiency improvements and a trend towards more sustainable infrastructure.
As we heard from the mayors, there are opportunities to reuse the heat from the data centers, district heating.
We've got partners like Eco Data Center that finding ways to be community assets because they're offering services like district heating or drying pellets for residential heating to the communities.
But in addition to that, I think it's important to scale out and look at the broader impact of AI on sustainability.
You see more and more organizations, including the International Energy Agency, the World Economic Forum, Grantham Institute, all concluding that AI is poised to lead to net emissions reductions.
So notwithstanding the growth in data centers, the growth in energy that's powering those data centers, it's actually AI can be a tool for us to address climate change when taken a in a whole.
So it's a fantastic opportunity to use the technology for benefiting society.
One example of that we just announced yesterday, for example, is a partnership that we have with a company called Eco Power or Eco wave Power, sorry.
They're using oceanic waves to create energy, clean renewable energy 247.
And it's innovations like this that benefit significantly from the intelligence that AI infrastructure delivers.
Also seismic imaging for enhanced geothermal, a better prediction for solar and wind potential kind of across the board.
Clean energy really benefits from this.
And then you have things like data center flexibility, which ends up making data centers assets to the grid and actually really supporting energy affordability for consumers.
Your Ecellcy as an investor in many of these companies.
So how do you be sure that capital is deployed in a way that ensures growing energy demand actually comes from clean energy? Like, what can you do to make it better? Francine, if you remember, Alta was created at Cop 28 for exactly this purpose, and we needed to see more capital flowing in the right direction, particularly to the global South, where we know a lot of these technologies are going to be booming, where we know energy is going to be booming.
At Alta, we invest with intention and with purpose.
We're focused on making sure that all of our dollars are mobilizing, but also that we're reducing emissions first and foremost.
And as you point out rightly, we know that this energy revolution was coming even before we added the layer of technology on the AI revolution on top of that, And so that's what makes it really exciting is how do we address this energy revolution and this AI revolution at the same time? At Altera, we've made really interesting investments around technology.
We love that intersection between technology and climate, and how can we find solutions? I think one of the panelists here mentioned about AI and how we can use that for energy efficiency.
I think that that's really exciting and we need to be investing behind that.
Altera, we're very focused there.
So we do renewables.
We look at nuclear, we're looking at different types of technology, and diversification of the energy system is going to be a key factor.
But then how can we apply technology in the right way to achieve the results that we want to see? And Governor, states, of course, are increasingly at the center of some of these big decisions around energy infrastructure, economic competitiveness, but also industrial growth.
Minas Geir has emerged as a leader in renewable energy investment and development.
So tell us a little bit about what you learned in building an energy strategy that supports both the economy but also energy security and climate change.
We are now more than 95% renewable in our grid.
And when we talk about cars, we are already like 30% renewables.
We do not use electricity in cars in minas, we use ethanol from sugar cane.
But what came clear for us is that we have an opportunity when we talk about AI digital centers or anything that needs a lot of electricity.
It's easier when you put those plants where you do not need to use fossil fuels to generate energy.
So for us, it's a opportunity, and we do believe that AI will be crucial so we can get more greener through the line.
For us, the complex mathematical schemes that have to be run so we can make sure that the solutions that we are projecting will work in climate change.
We'll need the power of AI to make the transformation that we need to see in our society.
So we have to have a green grid.
We have to make sure that does not impose any kind of costs to our citizens.
But it's quite clear for us that we have to move those AI centers to where the grid is already green.
You may not put them where you need to use fossil fuels to run the computers.
That's for us the ideal point of using the AI.
Thank you, Mayor Higgins, we've just heard about the launch of the Urban Data Centers Pact, which everyone erupted in a round of applause because it's rather exciting.
As cities see growing interest, of course, in some of these data centers, but also other energy intensive infrastructure, what are local leaders doing? What should you focus on to ensure that this growth also strengthens communities and supports energy needs? Artificial intelligence is not just coming, it's here and it's going to expand and the energy needs from data centers are real and they're going to continue to grow.
But as local governments, that is not the only part of the economy that is going to draw electricity as we electrify our economy to become a greener place to live.
We have got to continue the transition to electric vehicles, depending on where you are, you also need to move away from natural gas and electric stoves and heating systems.
And that's why I think it's extremely important for new data centers as they're being built to be completely focused on clean energy.
Because we need our grid to be able to power the entire electric and electrification revolution, not only the AI transition.
There's all kinds of other ways water if you're in a place like Phoenix that doesn't have very much water, if you're a place like Miami, you may think we have a lot of water.
But our water table is so high to the ground with saltwater intrusion, we can't have a lot of the freshwater taken out.
Closed loop cooling is absolutely critical.
Then in all of this, what you're starting to see all across America is really an outcry of the public around electricity costs, right? We cannot for working families.
We've heard this over and over and over again.
The people that did the least to cause the climate crisis are the ones that always pay the most.
As this huge amount of power comes off the grid, does it raise the price for the working parents and low income residents in our community and that has to be resolved.
I think as we come together with community benefits and we explain just what data centers are to our residents, they're confused.
The average resident has no idea what we're talking about.
They just don't know.
But what does it mean? It seems like a big box and it's scary.
But if we begin to talk about these places as the future of sustainability, green energy, clean energy, water recycling, all of these things, good neighborliness and nice landscaping, and that it will not affect their utility bills.
I do think we can find a way to integrate data centers into our cities in a way that do not devastate them and destroy neighborhoods.
In 30 seconds each, what does success look like in five years? Is there one data point that you want to achieve, Josh? I think success will look like a variety of data centers with different attributes based on the communities they're built in.
It may be distributed across homes, and we have some pilots doing that.
Certainly innovation around clean energy to power the data centers.
And again, data center flexibility where data centers are willing to take less energy at certain times to support the local grid, which increases utilization and supports energy affordability for communities.
Mayor Higgins, five years success.
Yeah.
That data center expansion does not worsen our climate crisis.
It makes it better, and that it does not deepen our affordability crisis for hardworking families.
Governor? That poor countries and regions can use this opportunity to get more closer to what the rich world call AI revolution because we are not there yet.
Derek Linsey.
I think that for us, it's about how can we achieve our energy goals in the cleanest way possible, respecting the climate.
But I think a really important thing is to think about this digital divide.
How are we ensuring that in five years' time, the developing world has the same access that the developed world has? A lot to think about.
Thank you so much all for joining us today.
Thank you, Jean Please welcome to the stage, Simon Steele, Executive Secretary, United Nations Climate Change, Gina McCarthy, Chair America Is All In, and Anna Tony, CEO of Cop 30, moderated by Antha Williams, environment Lead Bloomberg Philanthropies.
Go, Ana.
Thank you all so much.
Thank you so much to all of you, Gina, Simon, and Anna, for being here.
I think in this room, you have many admirers, and the three of you in your own ways have just been incredible champions for the kind of collaboration that climate action requires at this moment.
So I think we've seen over the years that we need the multilateral processes.
The negotiations and treaties are significant and indispensable.
And the work comes down to implementation.
We can't just have the ambition.
We need to know how it's going to get implemented, how these things are going to work.
And that's why at Bloomberg, we've been so delighted to support the kinds of partnerships like C 40, the Global Covenant of Mayors, the CAMP effort, America's All In as these places where we really can bring together not just national governments, but states, cities, businesses, and all the actors that bring their own approaches and expertise to these partnerships.
So that's the topic for today's conversation.
And, Simon, I want to turn first to you.
A hallmark, of course, of your leadership at the UNF AC has really been recognizing the multitude of actors that play a role in implementation, and you recognize as much as anyone that progress depends not only on what's negotiated, but what's really implemented.
And so what kind of cooperation, from your perspective, can make the biggest impact on the success of negotiated outcomes? Thank you, Anthony.
First of all, I just want to say how great it is being here at London at Climate Action Week.
We just spent two weeks in Bonn with our technical negotiations, the subsidiary bodies meetings.
So technical negotiators, yesterday, Brussels ministerial meeting, again looking out to the cop ahead of us.
And now in London, Climate Action Week, and the energy here is just so incredible.
That can do, wanna do, doing attitude, which is supported by what is happening, and this is outside of the process.
The other two meetings have the critical role in our intergovernmental process.
But the focus is, a little different.
Our role within the process is about sending signals to the real economy and what is taking place in rooms like this and throughout London over the course of this week and recognizing the respective roles of that intergovernmental process as cumbersome, as clunky as it may be.
It's kind of ten years on from Paris.
We have made significant progress, but leaving Blaine last year, cop 30 sent a very sharp signal that we are now entering a new era in the era of implementation.
And that implementation, with the guidance as to what is happening with our intergovernmental process, is what happens within the real economy and the action agenda.
Brazil, and I don't want to take anything away from what Anna may want to talk about.
But a very, very clever approach of linking the action agenda to the delivery of the first global stock take and linking directly the process to what happens within the real world.
So The piece that will make the shift that we need to accelerate where we need to go to get to 1.5 is that direct engagement process to action agenda.
And we have that five year vision.
The challenge now is for Turkey and Australia to move that forward, for Ethiopia to do the same next year, the year after, the year after.
And how do we make how do we turn those signals and all of the Rules that we have, the tools that we have, the plans that we've created inside of the process into real action on the ground moves economies and makes a difference to ordinary people on the street where what we're doing really matters.
I love that.
You echoed something that we heard from the Secretary-General in terms of the real economy.
No one president or prime minister controls the whole of what's happening in any economy.
Thank you for that.
Gina, I want to turn to you.
You work for two US presidents implementing first of its kind climate action and you've led the Natural Resources Defense Council as president.
Now you serve as a chair of America I All In.
Um, and we've seen that climate progress is stronger when it's bigger than any single administration and certainly goes beyond federal action, which is the idea that America's All I was built on.
So what in your mind makes climate progress durable? Well, first of all, let me say that hanging around with folks like you has been the way in which I've been able to have an entry into a world that was very different just a short time ago, and it's because of America is all in.
Look, I know that the US is both embarrassing and challenging.
But we don't have to focus on that.
America is all in is actually able to reach two thirds of the population in the United States and three quarters of the GDP.
And what we represent is an ability to grab our states and our towns and our cities, pull them together, collaborate together, and act.
Because, honestly, folks, life is about doing something, not talking about it.
And so that's what America is all in is all about.
And so, you know, I know that it's very difficult right now, but honestly, if you live in my world in the United States, we're not dwelling on the problems.
We're demanding the answers.
We're taking action.
We're using the ability of states to actually design their own strategies.
They have the capacity to do enforcement.
They have a capacity to do regulation, and they're going to grab that.
Our cities are anxious for opportunities to expand, and they're working with the private sector to get investments into their communities because they need it.
Not just because we want America is all in to succeed, and frankly, it is, which is really nice.
But what they really need is a willingness for people to stand with them, to let them understand and realize that the challenges that we're facing now put at risk the health and well being of our communities.
This isn't just nonsense talk.
This is about clean air.
This is about my children's future.
This is about my five grandchildren's future.
So I'm going to end by saying, Don't mess with me.
I I'll take that.
This is about my two daughters' future, so don't mess with me and don't mess with Gina.
I think we were also hearing echoes of what we heard from Mayor Khan earlier.
There are the delayers and the doers.
And we've certainly got a roomful of doers here, which is fantastic.
Anna, Tony, question for you.
You obviously played a critical role as CEO and executive director of COP 30.
And you really set out from the beginning to frame it as an implementation COP.
Bringing in all of society into the approach.
I just think about some of the plans that you created like the No organic waste plan connecting cities, states, countries, cutting methane emissions.
You were very forceful in encouraging us to invest more in that work successfully.
So where have you seen the greatest evidence that these platforms are really driving impact? So first of all, good afternoon.
So nice to be known with all of you in this panel, but I wanted to, first of all, thank Bloomberg philanthropy because I think it's showing that endurance for the work of cities is so absolutely vital.
And the ambiance here, it feels the energy we had on the town hall, the town hall at the local leaders forum in Rio de Janeiro, some of you were there.
The same energy, really wonderful energy, and it's exactly the energy that we needed.
Here is a little bit hotter than Blaine for the ones that were in Blaine.
I know all of you complained, but the ice cream there was better.
So let us remember that the ice cream there was better.
But this is the table as we are talking about the future of climate collaboration and cooperation.
We cannot think about the future without multi level partnership that we started in Blaine that we started before with CHAMPS, Seaford CCA, and so many others.
This is the future of the collaboration that we need.
It's not because we like cities and we love the mayor Yvonne here in front of us and many others.
But local leaders are really the ones that are delivering the public service for the population on the ground, both for mitigation and adaptation.
When something happen, as you said, it's the waste issue or the organic waste scene Ad Alberto here that has been leading this issue in Brazil, the transportation, the electric buses, the energy with the digital that we just had, the cycling tools.
This is where climate action becomes real for people.
And the trust on the multilateral system will become even better when people can leave what we are discussing in Bon from cop to cop.
So I think when we look at the platform, I think Simon mentioned on the changes on the action agenda linking to the global stock take and all the platforms that we're seeing, is those things that are going to become and to give the trust that we needed for the multilateral system that we all here wanted to to maintain and obviously we'll do anything to do that.
And I think on the collaborations one that I wanted to mention, there's so many 120 acceleration plans that we have now and that we are going to be monitoring each one of them.
But we have around 20 to 30 that links to cities.
And those are the ones that really going to them.
One of them is Trump, and I see Ambassador António de Silva Costa here with us, one of the co chairs of Trump, together with Germany here.
That type of partnership is the partnerships that we need to make sure that national policies, global policies, and local policies.
So whatever shape and form, we need that you aim at GST two.
To see which forms are we going to give to them.
But without the mayors and obviously the governors that are the ones that are delivering the public service for population, we are not going to do that alone.
Thank you.
I love that comment and I think that sums up this session perfectly well.
We don't work together in coalition because we like to, but because we have to, because it makes the ambition that we all seek possible and effective and durable for the long term.
The three of you have been critical to achieving that mission and great partners to us at Bloomburghhilanthropy.
So round of applause for our panels.
Please welcome to the stage, Summed Dalbsh climate high level champion for Cop 31.
Thank you.
Good afternoon, everyone.
As the local climate action summit comes to a close, I want to begin with a simple word.
Thank you for the magnification representation and your good work.
Thank you to Bloomberg Philanthropy for making this important gathering possible.
Thank you to our partners, C for Ds, the Global Covenant of Meyers, Brett Ss and Under two Coalition for your leadership and collaboration, and most importantly, thank you the mayors, governors and local leaders gathered here today.
It happens in cities, it happens in communities, it happens in neighbors.
As cop 31 climate high level champion, my commitment to you is very simple.
I'm commitment to ensuring that insight, priorities, and solutions shared in this forum are carried forward on the road to Antalia and into the heart of the Cp 31.
For most people, climate change is not experienced taught international negotiation or global temperature targets.
It is experience taught extreme health, to float insecurity, taught water scarcity, taught raising energy cost, and it is local governments that are often the first respond.
That's why these states and regions sit the heart of the Cp 31 action agenda.
One area where local leadership will especially critically zero waste.
What began Turkey under visionary leadership? Her Excellency, Mr.
Em Erdoan has grown into a global moment and increasingly important climate solution.
Too often, zero waste is seen only through the lens of the waste management, but it is true value is much greater.
The most effective way to reduce emissions is often to avoid generating them in first place.
Earlier today, the Secretary-General launched a global call action on methane, highlight three critical sectors where acclorate action is needed.
One of those is waste.
This includes taking deceive steps to reduce food loss and waste, open dumping and capture emissions from landfills and wastewater facilities to efficiently cut methane.
Reducing methane emission is one of the fastest opportunities we have to slow warming and delivering near term climate benefits.
This is where local leadership becomes incredibility, where you reduce food waste, improve waste management systems, expand circular economy practice, and cut methane emissions locally, you are not only advancing climate action.
This is also why the zero waste platform for climate action, which we are launching as a flagship initiative for cop 31 action agenda will depend heavily on local leadership CP 31, we are placing a strong emphasis on implementation and implementation required for partnership.
No single level government can deliver this transformation alone.
Success depends on stronger cooperation between national government, local governments, business, civil societies and communities.
It depends on inclusive decision making and depends on ensuring that the people most affected by climate impacts we have voice in shaping the solution.
Success of Cp 31 will be measured by happens in our cities, in our communities, and in the lives of our citizens so my sincerely gratitude for leadership.
Thank you for the partnership.
I'm the president of the Zero Waste Foundation.
We are working closely with the local government and local government organization.
We believe during Cop 31, we will work together closely for the future world, for the better climate, better environment.
Thank you for joining us today on the road to Antalia.
I hope we will meet again In Antalia, I look forward to working alongside every one of you months ahead.
Thank you so much.
I Please welcome to the stage Beatrice Toon.
When a disaster strikes, who do you recall first? What do you say? It was February 2023.
I spent a weekend with my brother and boyfriend on the northern Cosa Son Paolo.
It was a weekend meant for color, glitter, joy, and of course, celebration.
But I remember that it was pouring the whole day.
This wasn't a normal tropical storm.
This felt like the sky was breaking open.
An entire summer's worth of rain fell in 24 hours, the most extreme rainfall ever recorded in Brazil's history.
I had barely slept.
The rain was too loud, too rent listless.
Around 5:00 A.M.
I gave up and I got out of bed.
The rain had stopped, and the city was silent.
So I walked downstairs and my feet hit cold water.
Our relieving room was flooded and it felt like it was a sinking ship.
So I grabbed my flip flops and I jumped from furniture to furniture trying to rescue what I could.
You don't think you just move its instinct over logic.
And outside, the street was a river.
While flooding is very common in the state of San Paolo, this is nothing like I have ever seen.
The cars were submerged.
The absence of information was its own terror.
I was unable to reach my parents, no electricity, no mobile signal.
The card machines across the entire town had stopped working.
Total isolation.
So your mind fills with the worst things possible.
For three days, we had almost no information about what was happening on the beaches around us.
The emergency services and helicopters, they were focused on the worst hit areas, and we were on our own.
So ordinary people became the first responders.
It was a local surfers and the kayakers who took to the flooded streets unprompted and asked padding through the chaos to bring back information and rescue the stranded.
Shop owners threw open their doors, accepting whatever cash we had left.
There was a quiet solidarity that held the os together.
Only on the third day did we find one single spot on the beach where a faint mobile signal could be caught.
The beach was unrecognizable.
It was gray, it was foggy, the waves were violent, brown with mud.
And then standing there in the eerie silence was a crowd of strangers, side by side, arms stretched high to the sky, everyone screaming, Yoo vivo, I'm alive.
It was a scene that's permanently etched into my mind.
When I was able to reach my father, I was shaken, but I made a choice to keep my voice steady and strong.
Dad, I'm okay.
Others were not so lucky.
Landslides tore through the working community of Vilasail while most people were asleep.
560 people were forced to leave their homes, and most were left completely homeless.
65 people lost their lives that night.
This wasn't a tragedy of nature.
This was a display of profound injustice.
The communities that suffer the most are always the least responsible for the crisis.
So when I see the global headlines, I now feel it physically.
I remember the paralysis, the outstretched arms to the sky trying to catch a signal and the homes lost in the landslides.
Too many conversations are still framed around 2050, where the time to act is now.
We're not talking about future risk.
Most of us are already leaving it, and young people like me are now waiting for the future.
Even before this tragedy, I was already working on it.
From the Paulista axis to the Pinas River Corridor, I contributed to regenerating public spaces across San Paulo.
Green corridors, rain gardens, parks and squares designed to drain, absorb, and protect a city of 12 million people.
We are already working with our cities, mayors and local partners, but we need more leaders to work with us to meet our agency structural power and with the urgency that this crisis demands.
So I'm very pleased to introduce a true champion of young people everywhere, Mayor Ackie Sawyer, Steve 40 co chair, and Mayor Freetown.
Thank.
As mayors and governors, it is our duty to stand on the front lines with our communities.
Like beaches, I've witnessed the aftermath of flooding and landslides caused by torrential rains and the burden carried most heavily by women, by children, by the poorest people whose lives are most exposed to climate shocks.
We are working hand in hand with young people to plant and grow over 1 million trees, now moving our target to 4 million through Freetown to Tetown using digital tracking to hold back the very landslides and extreme heat that threaten our hillsides.
Cities are rolling out proven measures.
We're protecting people through early warning systems and constructing shelters so that no one is left in that terrifying silence.
But to protect our people, we need to go further.
Whether it is Vilas in Brazil or Moteme in Sierra Leone, where we lost 1,000 people in 3 minutes from a landslide.
We can have the best, most visionary, resilient plans in the world.
But the truth is, without the finance directed to the places that need it most, the gap between the plans and reality will continue to cost lives.
We're completely out of time now, completely out of time for polite timelines.
We need investment, and we need action today.
Cities are delivering, but we cannot finance adaptation at scale alone.
Work with us.
Thank you for those who do.
Back our youth and fund our cities.
Despite all that I've experienced, my faith in humanity remains.
It's only unity and collaboration that we can drive real change and we do it we have lost for each other for those we can save