Cities and Regions Talanoa Dialogues

From Bonn 2017 to Katowice 2018: Bridging the gap between all levels of government

The 2015 Paris Climate Agreement envisaged nations convene a dialogue to assess their national climate plans’ progress at the 2018 COP24 meeting. The preparatory negotiations took place in 2017 in Bonn under the Fijian COP27 Presidency, where the LGMA played a fundamental role in providing active contributions via the Bonn-Fiji Commitment. Originally a one-off UNFCCC event, this process evolved into a continuous, year-round dialogue involving multiple stakeholders. This initiative incorporated inputs from both the local and national levels and was branded as Talanoa Dialogues.

Talanoa

The word “Talanoa” refers to a traditional concept used in Fiji and the Pacific to reflect inclusive, participatory, and transparent dialogue. This is known as the Talanoa spirit, the cornerstone of the process.

Building on the Bonn-Fiji Commitment, ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability launched the Cities and Regions Talanoa Dialogues at the 9th World Urban Forum in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in February 2018.

Multilevel approach

These in-country climate consultations brought national and subnational leaders together, hence connecting urban and climate agendas. Such connections helped create multilevel governance policies that leveraged the strengths and assets available at every level of government.

The result? Local and regional governments were able to understand, strengthen, and advance their countries’ Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). On the other hand, nations were able to raise and achieve their climate ambitions faster, using locally driven climate actions as their basis for success.

The focus

Through the LGMA, the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy (GCoM), and UN-Habitat, the Cities and Regions Talanoa Dialogues contributed to the broader Talanoa process and climate negotiations specifically on:

  • Integrated management in the urban-climate-energy nexus
  • Enabling frameworks for multilevel action and access to finance
  • Improving access to data, knowledge sharing, and capacity building
  • Facilitative interactions, like the Talanoa Dialogues, in the years ahead

Three key questions

The Cities and Regions Talanoa Dialogues were organized around three central questions:

Where are we?

Participants review both national and subnational commitments to climate action and moot their success.

Where do we want to go?

Participants identify links between climate action, the Sustainable Development Goals, and national urban policy to strengthen their NDCs.

How do we get there?

Participants brainstormed methods of collaboration, resource use, and policy creation to meet and bolster their NDCs. The outcomes of these dialogues feed into the global UNFCCC Talanoa Dialogues, thus influencing international environmental negotiations.

Outcomes

As the focal point of the LGMA Constituency, ICLEI aggregated the outcomes of the Cities and Regions Talanoa Dialogues into submissions to the global Talanoa Dialogues. Furthermore, at COP24 in Katowice, Poland, the LGMA showcased the progress of these dialogues, emphasizing the need for them to continue beyond 2018. They also highlighted effective procedures and outcomes that all levels of government can include in climate policies.

Updates

In 2021 at COP26, awareness and mobilization through Cities and Regions Talanoa Dialogues helped more than 60 nations to adopt new and revised NDCs with higher climate ambitions. Therefore, the LGMA switched gear by advocating that #Time4MultilevelAction has come, and registered “the urgent need for multilevel and cooperative action” in the preamble of the Glasgow Climate Pact.

In June 2022 at UNFCCC Bonn Climate Conference, during the first negotiations on the first global stocktake of the Paris Agreement to be held at COP28 in 2023, the LGMA succeeded to convince Parties to follow the practice and spirit of Talanoa Dialogues which enabled the Global Stocktake to receive inputs at the local, national and international levels. The value of multilevel action and connecting urbanization to global climate agenda as a contribution to the global stocktake was further supported by the first-ever Ministerial Meeting on Urbanization and Climate at COP27, launching the Sustainable Urban Resilience for the Next Generation (SURGe Initiative).

Starting from the 2023 Earth Day cities and regions around the world are prepared to host their own Paris Agreement Stocktakes -under the banner of #Stocktake4ClimateEmergency- to link local action to their national NDCs. The process built from the Talanoa Dialogues three central questions, expanding to answer: How is our local community delivering on its own climate commitments towards 2030 and 2050? How does our subnational action relate to our national climate ambition and vice-a-versa? How can we respond to climate emergency in a climate-just way, at home and globally?

Model outcomes from the Cities and Regions Talanoa Dialogue

These outcomes highlight the knowledge gained through the Dialogue process, and provide a model for organizing outputs.

tanaloa_brochure-1

The Cities and Regions Talanoa Dialogues convene local, regional and national governments to drive multilevel climate action in a rapidly urbanizing world. Through these dialogues, local and regional governments are engaging in stocktaking efforts and helping strengthen climate action at all levels, from global to local.

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reporting_guide-1

Sharing concrete outcomes from the Cities and Regions Talanoa Dialogues contributes to the broader Talanoa process and climate negotiations through the LGMA constituency. It also shows the impact multilevel governance can have on climate action and policy at all levels.

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Local and regional governments have a key role in climate action and dialogues happening at the subnational, national and global levels. Local and regional governments are intent on advancing climate action across the world. They are transforming urban areas into low emission, climate resilient spaces that safeguard the long term interests of their citizens.

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Further links and readings

Learn more about the Talanoa Dialogue and how cities and regions are contributing through multilevel climate discussions.

Global level

Talanoa submissions to the UNFCCC

Talanoa Dialogues

UNFCCC landing pages on inputs to the Talanoa Dialogue

ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability

ICLEI submission on behalf of the Cities and Regions Talanoa Dialogues

Joint ICLEI-GIZ-UN Habitat

Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy

Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction

C40

Association Climate Chance

Future Ocean Alliance

Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport (SLoCaT) and Paris Process on Mobility and Climate (PPMC)

We Are Still In

US Climate Alliance

State of California

FMDV for CCFLA Secretariat

International Association of Public Transport (UITP)

Sustainable Energy Policy Division, Environment Department, Nagano Prefectural Government

The Climate Group/Under2 Coalition

Subnational level

Cities and Regions Talanoa Dialogues webinars

ICLEI and partners host a webinar series to share updates and ensure coordination among the LGMA members and partners on the organization of Cities and Regions Talanoa Dialogues.

Webinars in 2018

21 February: First ICLEI webinar on Cities and Regions Talanoa Dialogues. Check the full presentation here, and watch the recordings of the 10:00 or 16:00 CET sessions.

21 March: Second ICLEI webinar on Cities and Regions Talanoa Dialogues. Check the full presentation here, and watch the recordings of the 10:00 or 16:00 CET sessions.

18 April: Third ICLEI webinar on Cities and Regions Talanoa Dialogues. Check the full presentation here, and watch the recordings of the 10:00 CET session.

16 May: Fourth ICLEI webinar on Cities and Regions Talanoa Dialogues. Check the full presentation here, and watch the recordings of the 16:00 CEST session.

5 September: Fifth ICLEI webinar on Cities and Regions Talanoa Dialogues. Check the full presentation here, and watch the recordings of the 10:00 or 16:00 CEST sessions.

26 September: Sixth ICLEI webinar on Cities and Regions Talanoa Dialogues. Check the full presentation here, and watch the recordings of the 10:00 or 16:00 CEST sessions.

7 November: Seventh ICLEI webinar on Cities and Regions Talanoa Dialogues. Check the full presentation here, and watch the recordings of the 16:00 CET session.

28 November: Eight ICLEI webinar on Cities and Regions Talanoa Dialogues. Check the full presentation here, and watch the recordings of the 16:00 CET session.

Webinars in 2019

23 January: LGMA debrief of COP24 and towards COP25. Check the full presentation here, and watch the recordings of the 10:00 and 16:00 CET session.

20 February: Local Governments and Municipal Authorities (LGMA) webinar towards COP25. See the full powerpoint here.

20 March: Local Governments and Municipal Authorities (LGMA) webinar towards COP25. See the full powerpoint here.

17 April: Local Governments and Municipal Authorities (LGMA) webinar towards COP25. See the full powerpoint here.

15 May: LGMA webinar towards COP25. See the full powerpoint here.

What is Talanoa?

During COP 23, LMGA interventions were delivered by:

  • Mayor of Bonn Ashok-Alexander Sridharan
  • ICLEI Senior Climate Advocacy Officer Jisun Hwang
  • LGMA Constituency Focal Point Yunus Arikan

The links to UNFCCC webcasts and interventions can be found below.