André Corrêa do Lago, the president of the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties, has called on all countries to harness local actions to improve lives.

The president made the call on Tuesday at the ongoing COP30 in Belém.

According to him, harnessing local and subnational action to build resilience and improve lives will reduce the impact of climate change.

“COP30 continues its focus on turning ambition into implementation by advancing the solutions driving systemic change, in real places, led by real people.

“Nowhere is that more evident than in our cities, regions, and communities where climate action connects to daily life, evidenced by today’s announcements, including accelerated progress on housing, water, waste reduction, buildings, infrastructure, and governance.

“Events like the High-Level Ministerial on Multilevel Governance to Beat the Heat Global Mutirão High-Level Event, deliver a clear message that climate action starts at the local level,” he said.

He stated that the launch of the ‘Plan to Accelerate Multilevel Governance’ and the operationalisation of the ‘Coalition for High Ambition Multilevel Partnerships’ further demonstrated the reality of embedding local leadership into global frameworks, with people at the center.

He said local and subnational governments were translating ambition into safer homes, cleaner water, and stronger economies, delivering real-world action and increasing resilience where it is needed most, from resilient buildings to early warning systems.

“Today also marks the release of the Yearbook of Global Climate Action 2025, the annually published report led by the Climate Champions and UN Climate Change with data from its NAZCA portal.

“This presents a snapshot of global climate action and showcases its progress and gaps. The yearbook’s findings highlight that 95 per cent of countries in the 2025 NDC Synthesis Report now engage cities, businesses, and civil society in implementing climate plans, demonstrating that whole-of-society action is accelerating,” he said.

He stated that there was a need for deeper alignment between national ambitions and local delivery to close the remaining gaps in finance and capacity.

(NAN)