Virtual Forum

As climate change accelerates urban migration and resource stress, cities are increasingly becoming flashpoints for conflict, organized crime, and social instability. This session will unpack how climate-driven impacts, such as water scarcity, land pressure, and displacement, are creating new footholds for gangs, land and water mafias, and other armed actors in urban areas. We’ll explore how these emerging threats are undermining urban resilience and putting the most vulnerable residents at risk, and what local governments can do to respond. For city policymakers, this session will offer a critical lens on the need to strengthen urban resilience by addressing the security dimensions of climate change and adapting violence prevention approaches to account for climate risks.

22 August, 16:00 CEST

This session will introduce the upcoming Reuse Guidebook for Cities, developed by ICLEI, launching this August, which offers practical guidance, best practices, and key considerations on social equity and gender in reuse systems. Drawing on lessons from cities already reducing waste through innovative reuse initiatives, the session highlights actionable strategies for urban transformation, with insights from the Circular City Labs (CCL) project – Testing reusable packaging systems in cities, implemented by GIZ on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), and funded through the BMZ Initiative for Climate and Environmental Protection (IKU).

27 August 2025, 16:00 - 17:00 CEST

With presentations from city practitioners and dynamic breakout discussions, this workshop offers practical, hands-on guidance to help make municipal climate subsidy programs more socially just. Insights will be structured along key steps: 1) program outline, including goal setting and co-creation with target groups; 2) program design, with concrete recommendations to distribute funds more equitably and enhance accessibility of the program; 3) program roll out and communication, with reflections on inclusive application processes.

4 September 2025, 16:00 - 17:30 CEST

The energy transition isn’t waiting on new technology—it’s waiting on investment and financing. As the demand for clean energy infrastructure accelerates, mobilizing large-scale financing becomes essential. This session explores how local and regional governments can strategically deploy their resources to scale up successful financing models, including blended finance, and harmonize approaches across stakeholders such as governments, industry, and financiers to achieve their sustainable energy goals.

10 September 2025, 14:00 CEST

Want your climate message to lead to real action? This session gives participants the tools to host a Town Hall COP, community event, or media presence that brings community members together. Participants will learn how to tell stories that stick, share data that resonates, and spark conversations that move people. They will also hear from communities worldwide that have hosted their own Town Hall COPs and have a chance to ask them questions in a live Q&A.

10 September 2025, 17:00 CEST

This session will explore how the EU Cities Mission is catalyzing urgent climate action, with a focus on the evolution of Climate City Contracts and their role in reinforcing national climate plans. It will highlight synergies with the Adaptation Mission, bringing in diverse regional perspectives. Key themes include the strategic use of co-benefits to unlock finance, streamline monitoring and reporting, and build stronger business cases for decarbonization projects. Participants will share experiences on how Climate City Contracts and co-benefits are advancing multilevel governance, enabling the creation of national platforms that support scalability, replication, and integrated climate planning.

17 September 2025, 15:00 CEST

The session will explore how cities around the world are aligning with national environmental plans to meet ambitious biodiversity and climate targets while fostering community wellbeing. It will showcase examples from leading cities integrating climate and biodiversity measures, particularly those in the EU Climate-neutral Cities Mission and the Berlin Urban Nature Pact. Urban Nature Plans will be highlighted as effective tools for coordinating environmental policies across sectors. In addition, the City of Quito, Ecuador, will share its experience in embedding nature-based solutions into city planning processes. The session will conclude with a participatory “futuring” activity, inviting participants to reflect on their hopes for the climate agenda 20 years into the future.

24 September 2025, 16:00-17:30 CEST

More information available soon.