24 June 2025<\/p>\n
by Jonathan Andrews<\/p>\n
Cities are set to play a central role at this year\u2019s COP30<\/a> climate summit, with the launch of a new Local Leaders Forum in Rio de Janeiro and the expansion of London\u2019s air quality monitoring programme, Breathe London.<\/p>\n Announced during London Climate Action Week, the COP30 Local Leaders Forum<\/a> will bring together hundreds of mayors, governors and regional leaders in Rio this November. Co-hosted by the COP30 Presidency and Bloomberg Philanthropies, the three-day event aims to showcase local solutions and accelerate the delivery of global climate goals.<\/p>\n \u201cLocal leadership is essential to the success of global climate action,\u201d said Andr\u00e9 Corr\u00eaa do Lago, COP30 President-Designate Ambassador. \u201cThe COP30 Local Leaders Forum will be a vital platform to highlight the role of cities and regions in delivering real, inclusive and lasting climate solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n The Forum will precede the official COP30 negotiations in Bel\u00e9m and includes the C40 World Mayors Summit<\/a>, the Global States and Regions Summit, and a political dialogue on multilevel collaboration. Outcomes are expected to focus on renewable energy, energy efficiency, urban resilience and climate finance.<\/p>\n Eduardo Paes, Mayor of Rio, who also leads Brazil\u2019s National Front of Mayors, said the Forum would provide an opportunity for cities to shape the agenda.<\/p>\n \u201cCities and regions are on the frontlines of the climate crisis and are uniquely positioned to drive solutions,\u201d he said. \u201cThis must be a COP of delivery.\u201d<\/p>\n Breathe London expands with 146 new sensors<\/p>\n The announcement came alongside the launch of the next phase of the Breathe London<\/a> programme, supported by \u00a32.8 million in joint funding from the Mayor of London and Bloomberg Philanthropies. Led by Vodafone and a consortium of partners, the new phase will deliver 146 additional air quality sensors, including ten on and around Oxford Street, in support of London\u2019s planned pedestrianisation.<\/p>\n \u201cThe first phase of my pioneering Breathe London programme has been a game-changer,\u201d said Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London. \u201cWith the support of Bloomberg Philanthropies, we can take the global Breathe Cities initiative from strength to strength.\u201d<\/p>\n Since its inception in 2021, Breathe London has deployed more than 400 sensors across the capital and supported 60 community groups with real-time air quality data. The model has informed the Breathe Cities network, now active in 14 cities including Nairobi, Brussels and Bangkok.<\/p>\n Michael Bloomberg, UN Special Envoy on Climate Ambition and Solutions, said the programme demonstrated how local data can inform public health decisions.<\/p>\n \u201cThis expansion of Breathe London will empower Londoners with critical information and help leaders create policies that will save lives,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n London Climate Action Week also marked the 20th anniversary of the C40 Cities network, now comprising nearly 100 cities worldwide. Events included high-level discussions on green finance, electric vehicle infrastructure, and air quality, as well as the premiere of a film series profiling local climate initiatives.<\/p>\n The COP30 Local Leaders Forum will take place from 3 to 5 November in Rio de Janeiro. A delegation of city leaders will then travel to Bel\u00e9m to formally represent a unified subnational climate agenda during the main COP30 summit.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Image: 9parusnikov\u00a0<\/a>|\u00a0Dreamstime.com<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"24 June 2025 by Jonathan Andrews Cities are set to play a central role at this year\u2019s COP30…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":210968,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7757],"tags":[37967,84192,748,84193,5719,22209,71617,393,4884,84194,257,16,15,84195],"class_list":{"0":"post-210967","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-london","8":"tag-air-quality","9":"tag-breathe-london","10":"tag-britain","11":"tag-c40-cities","12":"tag-cities","13":"tag-climate-action","14":"tag-cop30","15":"tag-england","16":"tag-great-britain","17":"tag-local-leadership","18":"tag-london","19":"tag-uk","20":"tag-united-kingdom","21":"tag-urban-resilience"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210967"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210967\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/210968"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}