Since 2018, 35 local governments have joined the GCoM in Colombia.

Colombia already has a National Strategy for Local Climate Action supported by the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy, which was presented on June 23 during the event attended by representatives of local governments, Ministries, and the European Union.
The National Strategy for Local Climate Action in Colombia includes measures to support Colombian cities and municipalities that are members of the Global Covenant of Mayors in implementing concrete climate actions over the next two years and thus contribute to the goals of the Paris Agreement to combat climate change and limit the increase in global average temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
The presentation of Colombia’s strategy, moderated by journalist Paula Casas, took place during the “GCoM in Action Week: Latin American Cities for Climate”, where in addition to Colombia, strategies from Brazil, Ecuador, Chile, Peru, and Argentina were presented.
The European Union will contribute more than five million euros until 2025 to support these actions in the Latin American region. Funding and support for training are managed through the Global Covenant of Mayors, the largest network of cities for climate, with more than 11,000 members worldwide, of which 551 are Latin American cities and municipalities, together having a population of 243 million people.
Since 2018, the Pact has managed to get 35 local governments in Colombia to commit to this global network to advance their climate action goals, and there is still much potential to continue expanding this alliance in the country. The Ambassador of the European Union Delegation in Colombia, Gilles Bertrand, recalled the phrase “think global, act local.” It is the idea that each of us must act locally if we want to succeed globally, and there is no better way to drive local action than at the community level, both in large cities and municipalities,” he said.
Nicolás Galarza Sánchez, Deputy Minister of Environmental Land Management, explained that Colombia’s environmental commitments range from macro to micro. The country has set a goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050, reducing its emissions by more than half by 2030, and adopting a nature-positive approach. “For that, the participation of cities is fundamental with a gradual transformation to achieve these goals,” he emphasized.

Reduction of more than a thousand tons of CO₂

The Mayor of Tópaga, Álvaro Henry Barrera Díaz, presented the reality of the city. One of the most important projects of this municipal government as a contribution to this global strategy is the reduction of more than a thousand tons of CO₂ from coal and wood kitchens.
“I want to invite the governments of this region not to get discouraged, because sometimes, mistakenly, it seems a bit complex to take the first step, but when you have the support of international cooperation institutions and the Ministry of Environment and all the entities worldwide committed to this fight, things gradually fall into place,” he concluded.
Valentina Falkenstein, Coordinator of the Helpdesk of the Global Covenant of Mayors in the Americas, was in charge of closing the event, in which she invited all participants to work together to ensure that more and more municipalities can get training, develop greenhouse gas inventories, create their local climate action plans, generate events and spaces for dialogue and exchange, and also promote the adhesion of new cities throughout Colombia to join the GCoM.
Falkenstein mentioned the effort of the entire GCoM team to ensure that commitments do not remain just good wishes and nice words, but rather follow-up is done to ensure these commitments become concrete actions and guarantee a better and more sustainable future for all Colombian people. “We hope that this is truly the beginning of a new cycle of the GCoM in Colombia to build together a better, more sustainable, and resilient future in the face of the climate crisis,” she concluded.

More than 500 municipalities united in Latin America

The Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy is a global alliance of more than 12,500 cities and local governments in over 140 countries voluntarily committed to action against climate change, reducing its inevitable impacts, and facilitating access to sustainable and affordable energy for all. The GCoM was created in 2016 with the merger of the two largest networks of mayors and cities working on climate and energy issues: the Compact of Mayors and the Covenant of Mayors. Today, more than 500 municipalities and cities in Latin America are part of the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy. These are cities and municipalities that are taking bold local actions and working together in a network to share innovative solutions that enable mayors to do more, faster. The GCoM invites new municipalities and cities to join this initiative.