The experience of urban decision-makers leading in the climate emergency

ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability and the Federal City of Bonn, Germany, welcome you to Daring Cities, a global forum for urban leaders taking on the climate emergency. Daring Cities is designed to empower urban decision-makers – such as mayors, city councilors, administrators, and urban thought leaders, as well as national government representatives, researchers, technical staff, business leaders, civil society decision-makers, and community organizers – to lead in the climate emergency.

Welcome to the Daring Cities 2026 Bonn Dialogues: A message from the Mayor of Bonn, Guido Déus

 

From commitment to delivery: Cities and regions lead climate action at Bonn Climate Talks

  • Cities are ready to act. What is needed to meet their transformative ambitions?



  • What it takes to make the implementation era truly multilevel



  • Cities are in the plans. Are they getting the support to deliver them?



Daring Cities Virtual Forum

The Daring Cities Virtual Forum is a free, globally-accessible program of solution-oriented online events exploring strategies to tackle the climate emergency. Since its launch in 2020, the Forum has brought together local and regional leaders, policymakers, urban practitioners, technical experts, researchers, private sector stakeholders and NGO representatives from around the world through dynamic online events and training workshops to explore multilevel climate action and showcase innovative solutions that cities and regions can adapt and replicate.

More about Daring Cities

The current challenge: Taking on the climate emergency

With the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic, every sector of society across every corner of the globe has been turned upside down, and the work to address climate change is being reprioritized, interrupted or delayed. Local and regional governments have had to redeploy sustainability resources to ensure immediate safeguarding of their residents and employees.

On the international level, we are experiencing major disruptions of the global climate process.

But climate science hasn’t changed. The climate emergency is still happening right now, in our cities, towns and regions around the world.

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Why Bonn?

An ICLEI Member since 2000, the Federal City of Bonn, Germany, is the seat of the ICLEI World Secretariat and a pivotal force in the fight against climate change, hosting Daring Cities annually since 2020 while marking 30 years as a UN stronghold. Over this period, Bonn has evolved into a global sustainability and resilience hub, housing 27 UN agencies, including the UNFCCC headquarters.

 

Dare to act

Join our expanding Daring Cities community on social media. Stay updated with the latest news and be inspired by how bold leaders are tackling the climate emergency. Thousands of urban climate leaders have already joined—become a part of our community today and connect with like-minded professionals on our LinkedIn page.

The Federal City of Bonn

An ICLEI Member since 2000, the Federal City of Bonn, Germany, is the seat of the ICLEI World Secretariat. The City is constantly working on improving its sustainable performance by adopting local action programs, successfully establishing forms of cooperation with cities all over the world, and by launching activities that advance sustainable development.