CEMR joins 80 networks and calls for COP31 to empower cities and regions as key drivers of global climate implementation
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CEMR stands among the more than 80 networks of local and subnational governments that have endorsed the COP31 Position of the Local Governments and Municipal Authorities (LGMA) Constituency, the formally recognised voice of local, regional and subnational governments in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) process.
Together, they represent tens of thousands of governments worldwide and share the same messages: the Paris Agreement will only be delivered through the engagement of all levels of government. They call for COP31 to empower cities, regions and states as key drivers of global climate implementation.
COP31 opens in Antalya (Türkiye) on 9 November, under new scientific reports that the planet is set to cross 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels within the next few years. The outcomes of COP will determine how high the peak goes, how long it lasts and who delivers the return trajectory to 1.5°C.
LGMA six calls
The COP 31 Position sets out six calls:
Achieving an energy transition outcome that accelerates subnational delivery to return to the 1.5°C pathway;
Prioritising an ambitious outcome on just transition to ensure national outcomes are rooted in local needs and realities and deliver tangible benefits that reach workers and communities at the local level;
Institutionalising multilevel climate finance architectures that reach the subnational level, through country platforms, public development banks and funded project preparation;
Continuing to uphold the key role of independent science in the COP process, including the forthcoming Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on Climate Change and Cities;
Creating a single formal space for Parties and subnational governments to address the barriers to multilevel action;
Accelerating the implementation of the Global Goal on Adaptation and National Adaptation Plans through integrated local action.
A Guidance for Negotiators accompanies the Position with proposed negotiating text on ten priority topics.
This LGMA Position serves as the basis for our interventions and advocacy leading up to and at COP31. It is integrated into the LGMA longer-term advocacy strategy towards COP32 and COP33.
Local leaders at COP31
A dozen local leaders representing CEMR members and PLATFORMA partners are heading to COP to defend the voice of local and regional governments in climate action.
Local voices shaping European choices: CEMR hosts its first peer exchange on enlargement
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On 4 November 2026, the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) brought together mayors, local government associations, national and EU officials in Brussels for a Peer Exchange on Enlargement, “Local voices shaping European choices”. The event took place at CEMR’s office and was organised under the programme Local Observatory on Reform Agendas Implementation (LORAI).
The event was organised by CEMR under the EU–Council of Europe joint programme LORAI – Local Observatory on Reform Agendas Implementation in the Western Balkans, which aims to strengthen local authorities’ role and capacity to contribute to the implementation and monitoring of Reform Agendas under the EU’s Reform and Growth Facility, a key element in the region’s progress towards EU accession.
Why local governments matter for enlargement
Enlargement has regained strong political momentum, driven by geopolitical change, security concerns and hybrid threats. Yet a faster accession process also raises questions: Are candidate countries ready? Can they absorb EU funds effectively? Can reforms be sustained over the long term, leaving no one behind?
CEMR’s answer is that the road to the European Union does not run only through national capitals. It also runs through towns, cities and regions, where reforms become visible in people’s everyday lives, from public services and infrastructure to local democracy.
A programme built around local delivery
CEMR Secretary-General, Fabrizio Rossi, opened the event with the words: “When we speak about a larger Europe, we speak about a Europe in which every community, every municipality and every country can find its place, contribute its strengths and share common values. The sustainability of enlargement depends on creating opportunities for all Europeans to sit at the same table.”
Gunn Marit Helgesen, the President of the Congress of the Council of Europe, amplified that ”to join the EU, candidate countries must meet certain standards, but too often between these criteria we forget the fundamental truth that democracy is built from the bottom up, not the other way around.” She added that”democracy cannot be rebuilt without citizens’ trust.”
Christoph Schnaudigel, CEMR President and President of the County of Karlsruhe (Germany), emphasised that “the road to the European Union does not pass only through national capitals. It also runs through cities, towns and regions. Municipalities are not only implementing reforms; they help make them meaningful and visible in people’s everyday lives.”
Finally, Valentina Superti, Director of the Western Balkans Sector DG ENEST of the European Commission, said that “LRGs have an important role to play in this EU enlargement and geopolitical efforts; to implement EU policies effectively, they need to be equipped with the right administrative and financial capacities and have ownership”.
The introduction to LORAI programme before the first panel was led by Dušan Raičević, Mayor of Bar, Montenegro, amplified that “to make reforms more inclusive and responsive to citizens’ needs, the citizens need to take active participation in the process. By investing in stronger local institutions, we invest in a stronger Montenegro and a stronger Western Balkans”.
He recognised that ”for Montenegro, the EU accession is a strategic priority and an opportunity to strengthen democracy, support sustainable development and improve citizenship. ”
Irina Sahakyan Vetter, Head of Unit, Institutional Partnerships, Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, explained the aim and role of the LORAI programme.
The programme “is built on two pillars: two complementary areas of work. The first one is the monitoring and evidence gathering. It aims to improve information on the local impact of reform agenda implementation and strengthen local authorities’ participation in the monitoring processes”, she stressed.
“Under this pillar, the program will develop a dashboard to monitor the local impact of the reforms, and we are in the process right now of developing the regional-level and beneficiary-specific indicators”, she added.
Finally, Jelena Janevska, the Programme Director of NALAS, presented a regional baseline study on Involvement of the Local Authorities in the Western Balkans Reform Agenda and Growth Facility.
Green transition – the first challenge on the path to EU enlargement
The first panel, the green transition on the path to EU enlargement, looked at how municipalities deliver policies at the heart of the EU Green Deal, from waste and water management to energy efficiency, sustainable mobility, spatial planning and climate adaptation, and what support they still need. The panel moderator, Durmish Guri, CEMR Projects Director, mentioned that “municipalities and regions are not only beneficiaries of the accession process, but essential partners in implementing the reforms needed for EU membership.”
Marko Mrdak, Deputy Head of Mission of Montenegro to the EU, stressed that “because of the narrow deadlines, local and regional governments are not always consulted as they should be, but their role is important if we want an efficient implementation of the acquis Communautaire.”
Agim Aliu, Mayor of Ferizaj Municipality, President of the Association of Kosovo Municipalities, added that Kosovo “has implemented a range of projects related to energy efficiency across the local and regional institutions.”
Andreas Wolter, the CEMR Spokesperson on Climate and Energy and Councillor of Cologne, said that “local governments must be recognised not only as implementers, but as strategic partners in shaping Europe’s green transition. Municipalities and regions should be involved from the beginning in designing climate and energy policies, not only in implementing them.”
Juliana Memaj, Mayor of Dimal, Albania, presented the case of her town, which “carried out interventions to protect the town from the flow of the Osum River, helping to prevent floods, protect the community, and increase resilience to climate risks.”
“We have developed projects to improve the energy efficiency of buildings, with a total value of around 1 million euros, aiming to reduce energy consumption and improve public infrastructure”, she added.
MilanVukadinović, Mayor of Foča, Bosnia and Herzegovina, also followed with a regional example: “Our territory is home to Sutske National Park, the oldest national park in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Preserving these natural assets is not only a development priority for us, but also an obligation towards future generations.”
Finally, Olha Pikula, Councillor of Mariupol, Ukraine and CEMR spokesperson on EU enlargement, ended a session saying that ”we are still managing to progress on the EU accession despite the ongoing war. The biggest challenge remains in the translation of the EU commitments on the ground.”
She emphasised that Ukraine is using sustainable approaches. To do so, “we need three pillars;
1. Interconnection between the state, regional and local levels.
2. EU standards should be equal in every state but need to be tailored to every country. For instance, in Ukraine, not every community is ready now to implement, for instance, the EU Climate agenda.
3. We need to have peer-to-peer learning, experience exchange, and the supervision of the projects.”
Brain drain reduction – second challenge to the EU enlargement
The second panel, Local economic development as a tool to reduce brain drain, looked at how municipalities can create conditions for people to stay, return and invest locally, in the context of demographic decline and the upcoming European Commission Right to Stay strategy.
The debate was moderated by Marine Gaudron, CEMR Advisor on Territorial Cohesion and Local Finances, who emphasised that “competitiveness should be developed across all territories, not only in capital cities and metropolitan centres. Investments in connectivity, digitalisation, local infrastructure, entrepreneurship and skills are essential to ensure that all communities can benefit from growth and development.”
Inga Vismantienė, Vice Mayor of Akmenė, Lithuania, emphasised that “people do not stay in the region simply because they were born there. They stay because they see the opportunities there. The future cannot be built by stopping people from leaving but rather by giving people opportunities to develop. ”
Edi Majstorović, Association of Towns and Municipalities of Serbia (SCTM), stressed that “the new generation has a different understanding of the quality of life. They want a meaningful life; that’s why they don’t want to stay in smaller municipalities. Our major driver is creating new workplaces for 10 years and building the infrastructure, and we did it, and we had results.”
Irina Luncasu, Congress of Local Authorities from Moldova (CALM) expert from Moldova, shared the discovery that “have acknowledged that our diaspora can be transformed into the biggest partner of Moldova. We managed to get them involved in the local economic development.”
Finally, Erna Merdić, Mayor of Zavidovići from Bosnia and Herzegovina, stressed that ”at least 80% of the perception of the cities and how the state is successful and how government and public services are successful is through the local level.”
What comes next
The meeting closed with an outlook on LORAI activities. CEMR will help local officials turn reforms into investment roadmaps that can feed into the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), through MFF Labs, country workshops starting with Albania in December 2026 and continuing in Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo*.
The next peer exchange on enlargement will be held at the CEMR Congress in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, on 7–9 June 2027.
This document was produced with the financial assistance of the European Union and the Council of Europe. The views expressed herein can in no way be taken to represent the official opinion of the European Union or the Council of Europe.
* This designation is without prejudice to positions on status and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence.
The Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) has published the TERRI 2026 Report, its latest assessment of territorial governance and reform trends. Drawing on evidence from CEMR member associations, the report examines developments in territorial organisation, governance arrangements, local and regional responsibilities, inter-municipal cooperation, fiscal capacity and housing governance. The central finding of TERRI 2026 is that effective governance is no longer defined by how institutions are structured. This edition focused on housing challenges in Europe.
Governance change is happening in how systems work, not in their structures
Since the first TERRI report in 2021, the focus of reform has shifted away from redrawing boundaries and restructuring territories towards improving how governance works in practice. Across Europe, efforts are increasingly centred on strengthening administrative capacity, enhancing coordination between levels of government, and delivering better outcomes for citizens
Shared responsibilities and growing cooperation
The distribution of formal responsibilities has remained broadly stable across much of Europe, although respondents in several countries reported examples of recentralisation or growing national influence over local decision-making. Delivery, however, increasingly relies on shared arrangements between national, regional and local governments, so how responsibilities work in practice matters more than the centralised/decentralised divide.
Cooperation is now mainstream: more than four-fifths of responding countries reported inter-municipal or alternative arrangements, increasingly covering areas such as spatial planning, economic development, social services, investment coordination and resilience preparation.
Capacity and financing remain critical challenges
Respondents to CEMR’s survey repeatedly pointed to administrative expertise, workforce capability and organisational resources as key determining factors for implementation. Performance depends as much on delivery capability as on institutional design.Fiscal pressures remain a key challenge, with many respondents highlighting the difficulty of balancing growing responsibilities with adequate resources, investment needs, and predictable long-term funding.
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Housing: a test case for territorial governance
Housing is putting governance systems across Europe to the test. Affordability pressures, housing shortages, ageing stock and sustainability requirements are testing the ability of governments at all levels to respond effectively. The report finds that no single governance model guarantees better outcomes; success depends on how governance arrangements, financing, local flexibility and implementation capacity work together.
CEMR sets six policy messages
Align responsibilities with resources. New or expanded responsibilities should come with sufficient, predictable funding: funding follows function.
Put governance capacity at the centre of reform. Invest in skills, expertise, and institutional capability as a core part of reform.
Promote multi-level governance based on partnership. Support European, national, regional and local governments in working together while respecting local autonomy, rather than pursuing centralisation or decentralisation for its own sake.
Strengthen place-based approaches. Give local and regional governments the flexibility to adapt policies to local circumstances rather than imposing uniform solutions.
Strengthen long-term capacity and fiscal sustainability. Support multi-annual financing, long-term investment planning, and greater fiscal predictability.
Recognise housing as a strategic governance issue. Rather than promoting one model, strengthen the conditions for success: clear responsibilities, predictable financing, local flexibility, implementation capability and coordination across levels of government.
Towards better-functioning decentralisation
The report concludes that Europe does not need a single model of territorial governance. The challenge is not more or less decentralisation, but ensuring that arrangements support effective local self-government, policy delivery and democratic accountability. This also matters for the Sustainable Development Goals, many of which depend on local and regional governments turning objectives into results.
Successful policy outcomes depend on all tiers of government working together through governance arrangements that are capable, coordinated and responsive to territorial needs.
TERRI 2026 provides a timely snapshot of how these challenges are evolving across Europe, and CEMR will continue to work with its members and partners to ensure that local and regional perspectives help shape the governance solutions of tomorrow.
The country profiles offer a short informative overview of national models of (decentralised) development cooperation frameworks in selected EU Member States. The aim is to provide insights into specific mechanisms and modalities of analysed national frameworks and identify enabling factors as well as challenges related to practical implementation, focusing on the role and opportunities for local and regional governments and their associations.
The French framework for Decentralised Development Cooperation (DDC) is characterised by:
A well-developed legal framework. French local and regional governments (LRGs) have a legally recognised competence to engage in international cooperation. Besides their general budget, they can also dedicate up to 1% of their sectoral budgets for water and sanitation, energy, waste and transport to international cooperation in these sectors (“1% schemes”). French LRGs contribute to France’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) and need to report on their international development activities.
A specific delegation supporting LRGs’ international engagement. Within the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, the Delegation for Local Authorities and Civil Society (DCTCIV) supports LRGs’ international engagement in various ways, including financially through calls for proposals, by providing advice and facilitating connections with French embassies and major international events.
An extensive DDC ecosystem. Networks and associations support LRGs’ international engagement. Among them are Cités Unies France (CUF), the French Association of the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (AFCCRE) and the regional multi-stakeholder networks (RRMAs). They support LRGs through training, information, and coordination, and bring their feedback to national and international arenas.
This article is part of a series of 7 Country Profiles examining DDC frameworks across Europe. The sixth edition will focus on Sweden. Stay tuned!
Read the Country Profile of France, available in four languages:
You can find the rest of Mindcraft’s publications here.
CEMR encourages French authorities to keep investing in the networks and associations that support local and regional governments’ international engagement, to simplify administrative procedures, and to strengthen the European dimension of decentralised cooperation, so that LRGs of all sizes can fully contribute to a more resilient, inclusive and effective development agenda.
This publication is produced within the Bridging and Mapping Knowledge Gaps in Decentralised Cooperation (Mindcraft) project, funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and supported by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).
There is a form of diplomacy that rarely makes headlines yet can have a profound impact on people’s lives: two mayors meet and agree to start a cooperation. What follows is a continuing conversation about what is needed and a mutual exchange of expertise involving stakeholders from administration, civil society, and citizens.
On 14 October 2026, in Brussels, during the European Week of Regions and Cities, that quiet work got formal recognition. At the first edition of the Bridges of Trust Award Ceremony, six municipal partnerships were named the Bridges of Trust Ambassadors, a new award for municipal cooperation between Ukraine and the rest of Europe, some dating back decades, others born in the first weeks after the full-scale invasion.
Bridges of Trust Award Ceremony 2026 – Christoph SchnaudigelCEMR President
Awardees reflecting diversity
Municipal twinning has existed in Europe since the aftermath of the Second World War, when former adversaries paired their towns as a small, deliberate act of reconciliation. That habit never really went away, but it found a new purpose. Oberhausen (Germany) and Zaporizhzhia (Ukraine), for instance, have been twinned since 1986; the partnership marked its 40th anniversary this year, and rather than fading into ceremony, it took on a very practical role. Together, the Bridges of Trust Ambassadors reflect the diversity of municipal cooperation, in terms of the size and location of the municipalities, the stakeholders involved and the topics addressed, and rehabilitation equipment delivered to Zaporizhzhia’s City Hospital No. 4, a Social Taxi service that gave over 1,200 rides in its first six months, and more than ten community vehicles sent through a civil protection programme.
Bridges of Trust Award Ceremony 2026 – Artem Husak, Deputy Minister for Communities, Territories and Internally Displaced Persons of Ukraine for European Integration
What distinguishes the awarded partnerships is that the relationship is dynamic and mutually beneficial. Fastiv, in Kyiv Oblast, partnered with Trollhättan in Sweden only in 2024, and within a year, Fastiv’s own crisis-management specialists were training Trollhättan’s emergency services, drawing on experience no peacetime municipality would otherwise have.
Bridges of Trust Award Ceremony 2026 – Vladimir Prebilic, Member of the European Parliament, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
The partnerships behind the Award
The award is a joint initiative of the Bridges of Trust Community, coordinated by the European Partnership Hub Secretariat, hosted by CEMR, and supported by the EU and its member states through the U-LEAD with Europe Programme. In total, 55 municipal partnerships with Ukraine handed in joint applications, showing their high-quality cooperation. Nine partner organisations across Europe pre-selected candidate partnerships. A jury including the European Committee of the Regions selected a cohort of them. The final say went to the four All-Ukrainian national associations — the people best placed to judge which partnerships actually made a difference on the ground.
Bridges of Trust Award Ceremony 2026 – Olena Tomniuk, Deputy Program, Director, U – LEAD with Europe
Six Ambassadors were named, plus one special recognition.
Special Recognition – Utrecht (Netherlands) – Mariupol
BoT Ambassadors
Ropaži (Latvia) × Boiarka (Ukraine) — established February 2023
Began with emergency aid (vehicles, generators) in the weeks after the invasion. Today it funds a Social Wardrobe and domestic-violence shelter supporting over 3,000 people a month, alongside recreation programmes that have brought more than 100 children from Boiarka to Latvia.
Trollhättan (Sweden) × Fastiv (Ukraine) — established 2024
A Memorandum of Cooperation signed within six months of first contact, built around crisis-management training, civil preparedness and youth exchange, including annual summer camps for children.
Bourges (France) × Korosten (Ukraine) — established 9 March 2022
One of the fastest municipal responses on record: first contact on 2 March 2022, a signed agreement a week later, 200 women and children hosted in Bourges within three weeks. The relationship never scaled back — regular delegation visits, and €10,000 in emergency aid sent after a drone attack on Korosten in April 2026.
Ciortești (Romania) × Zarichchia (Ukraine) — established 2025
Two small rural municipalities, both led by women mayors, with limited resources but a fast-moving relationship — a five-day study visit and a series of working sessions produced a Letter of Intent for formal twinning within about a year.
Oberhausen (Germany) × Zaporizhzhia (Ukraine) — twinned since 1986
The longest-standing partnership in the group, and a case study in what four decades of trust can do when circumstances demand it — described above.
Coevorden (Netherlands) & Nordhorn (Germany) × Chuhuiv (Ukraine) — twinning since 1963, trilateral since 2023
This is the one to watch. Trilateral municipal partnerships — where two established European twin cities jointly bring in a Ukrainian partner — are still rare but increasingly used as a way to share resources and coordination across borders. Coevorden and Nordhorn have been twinned since 1963; rather than each starting a separate relationship with Ukraine, they opened their existing partnership to include Chuhuiv, combining youth exchanges, a solidarity concert that funded equipment, and the 2026 donation of a specialised civil protection vehicle.
Utrecht (Netherlands) × Mariupol (Ukraine) — Special Recognition
Mariupol has been under Russian occupation since 2022, which sets this partnership apart from the other six: there is no functioning municipality on the Ukrainian side to twin with in the usual sense. Utrecht instead built a relationship with Mariupol’s exiled administration — creating two permanent staff positions in 2022 for former Mariupol municipal employees, co-developing the Mariupol Revival Plan, a reconstruction and recovery vision for the city’s eventual return, and in 2025 launching the Mariupol Justice Project with the International Criminal Court to document testimonies. It receives a separate recognition precisely because it operates under conditions none of the others faces — planning for a city’s future while that city remains inaccessible.
Bridges of Trust Ambassadors
What happens next
Each Ambassador enters a one-year Acceleration Programme: strategic support, peer learning, professional storytelling and visibility at high-level European events.
The aim is not only to mark these seven partnerships, but to give other towns and cities — including pairs already twinned for decades — a real example of what the relationship can become.
Because the most durable form of European integration may not be the kind negotiated in Brussels. It’s the kind built between two, or sometimes three, town halls that decided the relationship was worth keeping.
The Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) is deeply concerned about the arrest of Vahap Seçer on 6 October 2026, Mayor of Mersin Metropolitan Municipality, President of the Union of Municipalities of Türkiye (UMT), and CEMR Vice-President.
Mayor Seçer is the third President of UMT, CEMR’s member association in Türkiye, to be deprived of his liberty since the 2024 Turkish local elections. His arrest follows those of Ekrem İmamoğlu, Mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, on 19 March 2025, and Zeydan Karalar, Mayor of Adana Metropolitan Municipality, on 8 July 2025.
These developments are part of a broader and deeply concerning trend. Since the 2024 local elections, more than 80 municipalities in Türkiye have had their mayors replaced, and over 30 mayors have been arrested. Among them is Sinem Dedetaş, Mayor of Üsküdar and a member of the CEMR Policy Committee, who was arrested in July 2026. Taken together, these events point to a continued erosion of local democracy in Türkiye, a trend CEMR has repeatedly raised concerns about.
CEMR reiterates that local elected representatives must be able to carry out their duties freely and without undue interference and calls on the Turkish authorities to:
Respect the democratic mandates entrusted to local elected representatives by citizens and uphold the principles of the European Charter of Local Self-Government;
Release arrested elected representatives and allow them to resume their mandates;
Ensure that UMT can operate freely and continue to be led by the representatives chosen by its members.
CEMR also calls on European institutions and the wider international community to stand in solidarity with democratically elected local representatives in Türkiye and to raise these cases in their dialogue with the Turkish authorities.
At a time when democracy is facing increasing pressure across Europe, protecting local self-government is more important than ever. CEMR will continue to follow developments closely and stands firmly alongside UMT and its members and partners in Türkiye.
Beyond 2030: How can territories help shape the future of sustainable development?
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On 5 October, CEMR and PLATFORMA brought together almost 100 participants from over 50 countries for a public webinar on the future of the global sustainable development framework beyond 2030. The discussion gathered voices from research, civil society, women’s organisations and local government to answer one question: how can territories really be at the heart of the post-2030 framework?
Eleven years after the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), many targets remain off track. The webinar, which followed CEMR spokespersons’ debate in June, examined lessons from SDG implementation and emerging challenges, from climate risks to technological disruption and geopolitical tensions, that will shape the next agenda.
Opening the meeting, Fabrizio Rossi, CEMR Secretary General, stressed that the SDGs remain the world’s most important shared political framework, but that implementation will only succeed if it is localised. Local and regional governments are not merely implementers of global agendas: they are political actors that turn commitments into services, investments and policies, and must be recognised as strategic partners and co-architects of the next agenda. He also called for better local data to anticipate risks, and for gender equality to move from commitment to leadership.
“The SDGs remain the world’s most important shared political framework, but implementation will only succeed if it is localised.
The local and regional governments should be part of the discussions; they should be at the table, not solely the implementers.” – Fabrizio Rossi
Four possible scenarios after 2030
Axel Berger, Deputy Director of the German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS), opened the discussion with a keynote on a global sustainability agenda beyond 2030. He recalled that the SDGs have delivered real progress: 92% of the world’s population now has access to electricity, 74% of people were online in 2025 (up from 40% in 2015), and 134 countries have already met the target on under-5 child mortality.
Yet an implementation gap remains, driven by successive shocks and conflicts, a financing gap of around $4 trillion a year in developing countries, a weak implementation architecture, and eroding political ownership and trust.
“The debate should move from the number of goals to purpose and delivery, with resilience, new alliances and a role for subnational actors.”
Berger stressed that negotiations on a successor agenda will take place in a harder context than in 2015, marked by multipolarity, low trust and overlapping crises, which makes an inclusive and trust-building process even more important.
“At the moment, we are putting an emphasis on issues like competitiveness and security, and the SDGs in the Agenda 2030 falls to the wayside.”
Berger presented four possible paths: continuing the SDGs, extending them with new goals, reducing the number of goals, or building a new vision focused on delivery, resilience and new alliances, including the role of subnational actors. With the SDG Summit in September 2027 meant to launch the process, he called for negotiations that are inclusive, transparent, science-based and learning-oriented.
“Beyond pushing forward on SDG implementation, what we urgently need to do between now and September 2027 – and well beyond – is to build progressive alliances with like-minded nations and stakeholders.” – Axel Berger
Perspectives from civil society, research and women’s organisations
Jyotsna Mohan Singh, Advocacy Officer at Forus International, a network representing more than 24,000 civil society organisations, argued that putting territories at the heart means shifting power, resources and decision-making closer to people, not only localising implementation. She underlined the complementary roles of local governments, civil society and communities, including civil society’s independent accountability role, and presented Voluntary Local Reviews as a way to connect local evidence to budgets, national reviews and global accountability.
“Putting territories at the heart of the post-2030 framework should not mean simply asking territories to do more. It should mean giving territories, and the people within them, a greater voice, greater resources and greater influence over the decisions that affect their lives.”
“Local governments are not simply the last mile of implementation. They are important governance actors, with knowledge of what works, what does not work, and what people actually need.” – Dr Jyotsna Mohan Singh
João Tavares, Co-Founder and CEO of Nexus Governance, presented an analysis of 474 Voluntary Local Reviews from 359 cities in 72 countries. He pointed out that the local reviews are becoming more candid: challenges rose from 11% to 29% of reported items between 2017 and 2025. Cities name financing, institutional capacity and coordination across government tiers as their main barriers. In Europe, 45% of commitments are concrete, compared with 50% worldwide.
“Cities have already written the evidence. What we have done is make it countable: 474 local reviews, from 359 cities in 72 countries.”
“Local reviews are becoming more honest. Challenges have gone from 11% to 29% of what cities report, led by the most vulnerable territories.” – Joao Tavares
Gabriele Köhler, Board Member of Women Engage for a Common Future (WECF), warned of a global retrogression on women’s rights, with austerity and militarisation displacing social spending. She highlighted the intersecting inequalities and structural barriers, such as unequal access to resources and time poverty, that limit women’s representation and leadership. She also called for building CEDAW and Universal Periodic Review recommendations into SDG 5 accountability in a post-2030 framework.
“We need to look at the really disaggregated level to see what is happening to women and girls from disadvantaged communities, which can be anything from where they are located to their citizenship, sexual orientation, gender identity, or ethnicity.”
“I think that beyond 2030, what we really need to think about is binding accountability.” – Gabriele Köhler
The meeting was also joined by CEMR spokesperson on SDGs, Carola Gunnarsson, the Councillor of Sala Municipality and the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SALAR).
“Trust is perhaps the most important resource we have for managing transformation.”
“If we can strengthen those partnerships and keep people at the centre of decision making, then local and regional governments will not only implement future global goals, but they will also help shape it being them.” – Carola Gunnarsson
Four key asks from local and regional governments
Closing the webinar, Boris Tonhauser, Director of PLATFORMA, stressed that the question is no longer whether territories matter for sustainable development, but whether the next framework will empower them to help shape decisions, not just implement them. He recalled the key asks that will structure the CEMR-PLATFORMA position:
Put multilevel governance into practice, giving local and regional governments a defined role in shaping, implementing and reviewing the future framework
Reflect the interconnections of today’s challenges, addressing climate, inequality, demographic change, digital transformation and peace and security in an integrated way
Match ambitions with means of implementation, ensuring access to finance, capacities, data and knowledge
Strengthen international and decentralised cooperation, recognising the contribution of local governments to global sustainable development
“The question is no longer whether territories matter for sustainable development. The real challenge is whether the post-2030 framework will empower local and regional governments to help shape decisions, not just implement them.”
“If sustainable development happens in territories, then territories must have a seat at the decision-making table. This means moving from a model of consultation to a model of genuine co-creation and shared governance.” – Boris Tonhauser
While DDC Report #1 presented a general overview of reported decentralised development cooperation (DDC), this second report digs deeper into the opportunities and challenges shaping decentralised cooperation and looks at the results that DDC partnerships aim to achieve. It also showcases a selection of DDC projects, offering illustrative examples of what effective partnerships and activities look like in practice.
Where does Europe stand when it comes to DDC?
The second DDC Report highlights:
Funding drives engagement, but limited capacities hold it back. Available funding and linguistic, cultural or historical ties (both 56.75%) are the top drivers of involvement in DDC. Yet, limited capacities (78.37%) and limited or inconsistent funding opportunities (54. 05%) appear as the biggest challenge for scaling up.
Similar goals in focus. Respondents most frequently selected the following three results that their DDC partnerships aim to achieve in both partner and home territories: empowering local leaders and stakeholders, improving local public services, and strengthening local governance. Which one takes priority, though, differs depending on the territory in focus.
A lasting commitment. The majority of respondents (78.38%) plan to continue cooperating with their DDC partners, pointing out that decentralised cooperation is seen as a long-term investment rather than a one-off exercise.
This report is part of a wider series of Mindcraft publications on decentralised development cooperation, including Country Profiles on DDC frameworks. You can find the rest of Mindcraft’s publications here.
CEMR encourages European and national authorities to strengthen the role of LRGs in development policy, not only as implementers, but also as strategic partners helping shape a more resilient, inclusive, and effective development agenda. This report is produced within the Bridging and Mapping Knowledge Gaps in Decentralised Cooperation (Mindcraft), funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and supported by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).
A day ahead of President Ursula von der Leyen’s State of the European Union (SOTEU), CEMR has joined Local Alliance, which comprises seven other leading European networks of local and regional governments including ACR+, Climate Alliance, Energy Cities, Eurocities, FEDARENE, ICLEI Europe and POLIS, in a joint letter reaffirming support for a more competitive, resilient and cohesive Union, while raising a clear warning about the direction EU reforms are taking.
The letter recalls the summer’s wildfires and heatwaves, during which towns, cities and regions coordinated evacuations, sheltered residents and led recovery efforts. It is a reminder, Local Alliance writes, that cities and regions are not mere implementers of EU policy: they carry out close to 70% of EU legislation and account for around 68% of climate-significant public investment across the EU and OECD countries.
The signatories warn that the Commission’s envisaged restructuring of its services, the next Multiannual Financial Framework and ongoing simplification efforts risk removing both the institutional dialogue and the financial channels through which local and regional governments engage with the Union. Streamlining EU governance is welcome, the Local Alliance stressed, but not if it comes at the cost of centralisation, weaker locally led transitions, or a thinner territorial dimension in EU policy and funding.
The letter also points to the local dimension of Europe’s other priorities: security, economy and enlargement, noting that towns, cities and regions integrate people fleeing war, sustain partnerships with Ukrainian towns that will matter even more during reconstruction, and are where enlargement will ultimately be felt by citizens in candidate countries.
The ask is simple. The Local Alliance calls on President von der Leyen to use her State of the Union address to reaffirm the Commission’s commitment to local and regional governments as trusted, indispensable partners with a strong Commission service that engages with them directly, and an EU budget that gives them the investment and capacity to deliver for every community.
“The Work of EU Delegations with Local and Regional Governments” is a new Mindcraft publication, following on from the report published by PLATFORMA in 2021. Since 2021, the EU’s external action framework has undergone significant change. Under the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI) Global Europe and the Global Gateway strategy, EU international cooperation has moved towards a more geographic, investment-driven approach, with growing emphasis on the localisation of development cooperation.
This new study examines to what extent and how EU Delegations (EUDs) engage with Local and Regional Governments (LRGs) and their associations (LRGAs) in the partner countries. It is based on a 2025 survey of 40 EUDs worldwide and, interviews with five of them in Chad, Guatemala, Madagascar, Nepal and Zambia, as well as additional exchanges with EU Member States development cooperation agencies.
Key findings:
Enabling environment is key for LRG engagement. 62.5% of surveyed EUDs assessed the decentralisation in the partner country as favourable, and 57.5% support decentralisation efforts. Examples across partner countries show that support to local governance and public finance management helps LRGs engage in territorial development and EU-funded initiatives, though access to finance and the preparation of bankable projects remain persistent challenges.
LRG engagement in EU international cooperation remains uneven and rather limited. 57.5% of surveyed EUDs stated they engage with LRGs and LRGAs under the NDICI-Global Europe, while 20% stated they engage with them under the Global Gateway strategy. EUDs point to the lack of a right framework for structured cooperation as an obstacle. 69.2% consider that a specific budget line for LRGs would help.
LRG engagement can be valuable in fragile contexts. Among EUDs working in fragile settings, 76.4% consider that engaging with LRG would facilitate their work.
Decentralised cooperation remains generally underused. Illustrative examples of partnerships between European and partner-country LRGs, along with cooperation through LRGAs and their international cooperation structures, show real potential to strengthen local governance and support the localisation of EU initiatives but require greater visibility and emphasis.
There is an ongoing need to strengthen EUDs capacities to work with LRGs. Only 30% of surveyed EUDs reported having received specialised training or support for engaging with LRGs, which were assessed useful for understanding territorial approaches to local development.
These findings come at a timely moment, as negotiations on the 2028–2034 Multiannual Financial Framework, including its proposed Global Europe Instrument, are underway. CEMR-PLATFORMA calls for a clear engagement framework, dedicated funding mechanisms for LRGs, and stronger support for decentralised cooperation as a route to shared development goals.
