Climate Academy for local leaders

Local leaders’ climate academy: co‑creating justice‑centred climate action

On 25 and 26 March, CEMR, together with UCLG and PLATFORMA, hosted the Local Leaders’ Climate Academy, an online training and exchange space for local and regional leaders committed to advancing climate action rooted in justice, equality, and participation.

Held under the title “Co‑Creating Climate Action: Justice‑Centred Leadership for Local and Regional Governments”, the Academy brought together elected officials, practitioners, youth representatives, and experts to explore how local governments can translate climate commitments into inclusive, locally grounded action.

Putting justice at the centre of climate leadership

Opening the Academy, Fabrizio Rossi, Secretary General of CEMR, underlined the need for local leaders to move beyond fragmented climate responses and instead co‑create solutions that address climate change alongside social and gender inequalities.

On the second day, Pablo Fernández, Assistant Secretary‑General for Partnerships at UCLG, presented UCLG’s global learning strategy, emphasising city diplomacy and co‑creation as key tools for implementation. He stressed that inclusive capacity‑building — particularly involving youth and women — is central to accelerating progress on the Sustainable Development Goals, including the ongoing review of SDG 11.

Learning from local practice

Throughout the two days, the Academy showcased concrete examples of justice‑centred climate action led by cities and territories:

In Catalonia, municipalities are collaborating on collective renewable energy purchasing to reduce emissions and costs.

Dublin shared its work on systemic climate finance approaches to address organisational barriers to investment.

Athens presented the co‑creation of its Climate Contract, including a Youth Climate Assembly and support for 30 youth‑led projects.

International partnerships were highlighted, such as the long‑standing cooperation between Cologne (Germany) and Indigenous communities in Yarinacocha (Peru), and the Bio Plateau project promoting community‑based water management in the Guyana Shield.

Youth voices and global perspectives

The Academy was shaped by keynote interventions from Marcele Oliveira, Youth Climate Champion for COP30, and Mark M. Akrofi, Research Fellow at AISESA. Their contributions stressed the importance of engaging vulnerable communities, addressing environmental racism, and integrating intergenerational justice into local climate planning.

Their reflections echo broader debates on climate justice, including those shared in the PLATFORMA interview “Climate justice starts where people live”, which explores why locally rooted approaches are essential to fair and effective climate action.

Climate adaptation and multi-level cooperation: the Climate Chance session

On 26 March 2026, a dedicated session organised by Climate Chance brought climate adaptation to the centre of the discussions, highlighting the growing impact of floods, droughts, heatwaves and wildfires across European territories, and the need to act now.

Opening the session, Ronan Dantec, President of Climate Chance and CEMR spokesperson on climate, stressed that tackling climate risks requires collective effort: “Climate change affects Europe with floods, droughts, heatwaves, and wildfires impacting communities and economies. Building resilience requires collaboration between governments, businesses, insurers, investors, and civil society.”

The exchange focused on the challenges ahead for climate adaptation and on how multi‑level governance, cross‑sector cooperation, and improved financing and risk‑sharing mechanisms can strengthen resilience. The session also contributed reflections to the forthcoming EU Integrated Framework on Climate Adaptation, expected in late 2026, and featured expert input from Dr. Christiana Photiadou of the European Environment Agency.