The Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy (GCoM), an international coalition of city leaders committed to raising the global ambition for climate action, launched on 5 May 2018 a regional chapter for South Asia in New Delhi, India. The Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy - South Asia (GCoM-SA) aims to support the efforts of cities in India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and make their communities more resilient toward the effects of climate change. GCoM-SA was launched within the context of the South Asian Cities Summit and through support from the EU funded International Urban Cooperation programme in India and city network partners.

At today’s launch event, GCoM Vice-Chair and former UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres, the architect behind the historic Paris Agreement, and EU Ambassador Tomasz Kozlowski joined mayors, commissioners, key local actors and representatives from across South Asian countries as well as global and local city network partners to share regionally relevant challenges, best practices and lessons learnt, and demonstrate how a shared vision for the future can enhance climate action and quality of life for their citizens.

GCoM-SA aims to encourage and support South Asian sub-national authorities to promote the economic and health benefits of cities’ climate action. To date, 14 cities in South Asia have committed to GCoM, representing a population of more than 36 million. Through their commitments to take action on climate change, cities in the region could reduce their emissions by 65 percent.

The region’s overall potential to curb emissions is even greater, and GCoM-SA officially launched a campaign to further invite mayors and commissioners from India as well as local governments across the region to join the Global Covenant of Mayors and commit to transitioning to a low-carbon and climate resilient economy. The Indian cities of Surat and Gangtok signed a commitment to join cities across the globe to take action as part of this coalition.

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