The New Climate Playbook: Cities and National Governments Working Together

The effects of climate change are being felt on every continent, from biodiversity loss to heatwaves, floods to droughts. Acting quickly is essential for avoiding even more dangerous impacts.

Yet at the same time, we face a global landscape increasingly shaped by geopolitical tensions, armed conflict and political polarization. These schisms are straining established models of international cooperation and multilateralism, such as the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change’s Conferences of Parties (COPs).

In this context, new coalitions of the willing are emerging as key mechanisms for advancing climate action, closing the gap left by more formal — but slower-moving — multilateral negotiations. Multi-level partnerships — coalitions of local, regional, national governments and other actors — are creating more ambitious climate plans. Together, these new and collaborative pathways are delivering real climate impact despite mounting headwinds.

Multilevel Partnerships Translate Climate Ambition into Action

Subnational leaders like mayors and governors are some of the most strident about the need for more ambitious climate action. After all, they are often closest to the physical and social impacts of climate change that demand attention, such as extreme heat and damage to homes and transit systems. But leadership from national governments is crucial to fully unlocking climate action even at the local level.

Research shows that, excluding electricity decarbonization, more than one-third (37%) of urban emissions-reduction potential can only be realized through climate action coordinated across different levels of government.​ For example, achieving energy efficiency in buildings requires standards, enabling policies and regulations from national governments. Cities can then accelerate implementation by adapting building codes and creating partnerships with local companies to enable technical capacity for retrofitting.

This is similarly true for adaptation. Cities are on the frontlines of climate impacts, but often lack the power, finances and capacity needed to enhance resilience in their territories. National governments usually hold the knowledge, financing and regulatory strings to make it happen.

That’s why countries are increasingly turning to explicit multilevel strategies and collaboration. Around 80% of the latest national climate plans, known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), submitted last year now refer to multilevel governance as a means of implementation, up from a quarter just five years ago. Of the 60 national government endorsers of the CHAMP coalition, an initiative focused on improving multilevel governance, an even more impressive 90% increased their urban content scores, as assessed by UN-Habitat.

Governments are beginning to realize effective climate policy is as much a relational challenge as it is a technical one. Improved collaboration between levels of government means we should see more ambitious, robust and effective climate action in more places.

Collaboration looks different in every context, as does the role of each level of government. But inspiring stories can already be found across the globe.

Brazil’s AdaptaCidades Program

Brazil is a strong example of what effective coordination between union, state and municipal governments can look like when it comes to adaptation.

In Brazil, 95% of municipalities experienced some type of natural disaster between 2013 and 2024. The federal government responded by partnering with the German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ) to launch AdaptaCidades. The program provides cities with the capacity-building and technical support needed to better understand the local impacts of climate change and determine the best course of action.

This initiative is expected to increase the number of Brazilian cities with climate adaptation plans from 22 currently to approximately 500 by 2027, benefiting an estimated 50 million people. Using a shared standard aligned with the Brazilian National Adaptation Strategy and the country’s NDC, municipalities will help turn national climate commitments into action on the ground.

Electrifying India’s Public Transport

On the other side of the globe, India is demonstrating how multilevel climate action can accelerate electric mobility.

India has nearly 500 cities with populations over 100,000 people, as well as a federal system of government with strong state and local decision-makers. Through the PM-eBus Sewa Scheme, the national government has committed $2.4 billion to deploy and operate electric buses across more than 100 cities. The plan pairs centralized financial support and procurement with localized infrastructure planning, data collection and operational decision-making. While the national government provides resources and a framework to acquire the buses, city governments lead implementation, including establishing partnerships with the private sector.

The program intentionally prioritizes smaller- and medium-sized cities to expand essential services more equitably. From just 985 e-buses in 2021, the PM-eBus Sewa Scheme and other national e-bus programs have catapulted India to more than 18,400 registered e-buses in 2026. An additional 37,000 e-buses are in various phases of procurement today, according to preliminary analysis by WRI India.

With buses accounting for nearly 10% of diesel consumption in India's transport sector, this initiative is reducing national emissions and reliance on diesel fuel while also improving local air quality and quality of transport.

Colombia’s Inclusive National Climate Policy

In Colombia, collaboration between national and subnational governments has been central to shaping ambitious climate policy.

In 2024, the national government, in partnership with WRI Colombia, convened dialogues that brought cities and regions into the NDC development process. This engagement enabled local governments to share priorities, challenges and solutions, helping to better align national climate policy with on-the-ground realities.

As a result, Colombia's latest NDC, released in September 2025, formally recognizes the role of subnational governments in climate mitigation and adaptation planning and implementation. City targets are also featured in the NDC, such as Bogotá’s deployment of 23.9km of its first metro line by 2028 and Cali’s rollout of 26 electric buses by 2030.

Colombia’s national government also established permanent digital platforms to facilitate multilevel collaboration. The Corridor of Climate Financing (Corredor de Financiamiento Climático de Colombia) connects climate projects with funders to mobilize investments for national priorities. The “+Clima” platform allows local governments to report climate action that aligns with the NDC and national policies.

Together, these mechanisms promote visibility, transparency and multilevel collaboration to achieve Colombia’s overall climate goals.

A Transformation for Metropolitan Mexico City

Mexico City has a long track record showing how cities can bring different levels of government together to tackle challenges that go beyond municipal borders.

Faced with severe air pollution across the wider metropolitan region, local officials worked with state and federal governments to create the ProAire program and the Metropolitan Environmental Commission in 1995. These initiatives were funded by a mix of federal, state and municipal grants, fuel taxes and international partners. They helped combine funds and align policies and targets across the region.

As a result, Mexico City and the wider metropolitan region were able to introduce a range of measures to improve air quality. They included expanded public transit — such as construction of the longest bus rapid transit (BRT) system in Latin America — bike-sharing systems, reforestation efforts, new public spaces, as well as industrial emissions standards and vehicle use restrictions.

A dedicated metropolitan fund helped sustain these efforts and encouraged collaboration across jurisdictions. The ProAire program, now in its fifth phase, has been replicated across other zones and states throughout Mexico. It inspired the national government to create Megalopolis ProAire (2017-2030), a federal program that integrates 20 ongoing state programs and expands its scope to new urban areas. This effort also contributes to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and to collaboratively delivering Mexico’s NDC. According to 2024 data, 24% of Mexico’s GHG emissions comes from road transport.

Moving Climate Action Forward

Brazil, India, Colombia and Mexico’s success stories don’t stand alone. Through global efforts like ICLEI, C40 Cities, GCoM and Under2 Coalition, cities and other subnational governments are also coordinating directly with each other. National efforts like Brazil’s National Front of Mayors or the United States’ America Is All In lead similar domestic coalitions. And like-minded countries from across the globe have found a common space to leverage and encourage multilevel governance in the Coalition for High Level Ambition Multilevel Partnerships (CHAMP) for Climate Action.

Launched at COP28, CHAMP is a platform that enhances collaboration between national and subnational governments in climate policy and finance. Since its launch, CHAMP has grown to 77 country endorsers plus the E.U., reflecting a rising global consensus that multilevel governance is critical to delivering climate action.

CHAMP, now led by national co-chairs Brazil and Germany, recently released its first Implementation Roadmap, encouraging endorsers to go further, faster in delivering real collaboration and climate action. The Implementation Roadmap sets strategic priorities for 2026-2028 and aims to drive the enabling conditions, partnerships and delivery mechanisms needed for long-term multilevel climate action at scale.

In an era marked by division, these coalitions provide a counterweight, showing us that the power of cooperation and working directly with subnational partners remains potent. They point us toward a new era of climate action defined not by seemingly intractable conflicts, but by diverse and flexible collaborations that can accelerate progress.