ANTALYA, Türkiye//- – Cities and local governments are leading global climate ambition, with 58% of Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy (GCoM) signatories – more than 8,000 local authorities – setting more ambitious emissions-reduction targets than their national governments, according to the alliance’s 2026 Impact Report, launched today at COP31. Another 28% aim to achieve their targets sooner than their national governments.
Marking GCoM’s tenth anniversary, the report highlights a decade of growing local climate leadership. Since 2016, the alliance has doubled in size, reaching more than 14,000 cities and local governments and representing one in seven people worldwide.
Together, these signatories have the potential to reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions by 4.8 gigatonnes of CO₂ equivalent by 2050 – equivalent to more than four months of global crude oil production at current levels. Nearly 7,500 signatories have climate action plans in place, and more than 220,000 mitigation actions have been reported.
“Over the last ten years, cities and local governments have proven that when they lead, the world moves to catch up with them. The 2026 GCoM Impact Report is proof that city ambition hasn’t fallen; national commitments have risen. Local governments are the pacesetters for climate and energy action, continuing to go further and faster – forward” said Anne Hidalgo, Global Ambassador, Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy
From Climate Ambition to Action
The report shows how cities are increasingly turning commitments into practical solutions. The number of signatories with net-zero targets and accompanying implementation pathways rose from 211 in 2025 to 580 in 2026, while 3,078 cities have completed climate risk assessments covering approximately 735 million people.
Across the alliance, local governments are demonstrating different approaches to implementation.
In Viladecans, Spain, a public-private-citizen partnership is advancing energy efficiency and sustainable housing renovation as the city works towards climate neutrality by 2030. In San Luis Potosí, Mexico, a real-time digital risk atlas is improving disaster prevention and urban planning. Meanwhile, Kisumu County, Kenya, is developing a roadmap to achieve 100% renewable energy by 2050.
These initiatives illustrate how cities of different sizes and regions are translating climate commitments into locally adapted solutions.
Closing the Climate Finance Gap
Despite growing ambition, the report warns that financing remains a major obstacle to implementation, particularly in vulnerable regions.
Of the USD 831 billion in annual urban climate finance tracked by the Cities Climate Finance Leadership Alliance, barely 1% is directed towards adaptation. Cities in emerging markets and developing economies receive approximately USD 6 billion annually, against an estimated need of USD 147 billion per year by 2030.
Bridging this gap requires connecting cities with the funding and financing needed at each stage of project development. Through its partnership with the City Climate Finance Gap Fund, GCoM has engaged 452 cities across 63 countries, supporting 347 climate project ideas and providing capacity-building to more than 1,100 participants.
In central Bosnia, early-stage technical support through the GCoM–Gap Fund partnership contributed to securing €12 million in EBRD financing for energy-efficiency improvements in 50 public buildings, demonstrating how local climate projects can attract investment.
Converting a decade of ambition into a decade of delivery
As GCoM enters its second decade, the report highlights the growing importance of the Global South, where 61% of residents represented by GCoM signatories now live. Smaller municipalities also remain central to the alliance, accounting for 83% of its members.
Recognition of cities’ role in climate action is increasing internationally. According to UN-Habitat data cited in the report, 81% of national climate commitments now include strong urban content, compared with 49% in the previous round.
The next challenge is ensuring this recognition translates into greater financing, technical capacity and cooperation between local and national governments.
Building on ten years of collective action, GCoM will focus on accelerating implementation through climate finance, data, innovation and partnerships, helping cities turn ambitious commitments into measurable results.
To turn these ambitious city targets into measurable delivery, GCoM and its partners also launched three new publications at COP31 to bridge the gap between research and local implementation.
Drawing directly from the 2026 Innovate4Cities Conference in Nairobi, the suite – featuring the Innovate4Cities Outcomes Report, the Youth Team Reflections Report, and the Global Research and Action Agenda (GRAA) 2026–2028 Priorities – outlines critical pathways to unlock urban climate finance, integrate youth-led governance and local knowledge, and feed actionable data directly into the forthcoming IPCC Special Report on Cities.
Read the full 2026 GCoM Impact Report: https://www.globalcovenantofmayors.org/impact2026/
