Elected officials and executives from the 4 GCoM USA ‘Metro-scale Climate Leaders’ joined staff from the Global Covenant of Mayors Secretariat and the European Union at the National Conference of Regions, hosted by the National Association of Regional Councils. The session explored the critical role that metropolitan and regional organisations can have in fostering resilience through case studies from the US and European Union (EU). The Global Covenant of Mayors (GCoM) and the EU are currently working with the 4 ‘Metro-scale Climate Leader’ regions in the US (the metropolitan areas of Chicago, Denver, Kansas and Washington DC) to help foster ambitious climate action. By connecting regions all over the world to work together, GCoM aims to accelerate action on this issue and bring environmental, social and economic benefits to US regions and cities.

Presenters and panelists at the session reflected the value in Councils of Government (CoGs) and Metropolitan Planning Organisations (MPOs) acting on climate change to build resilience and plan for the impacts of a changing climate. Recent climate events in the US have shown that the cost of inaction can be catastrophic and increasingly local economies are dependent on effective climate planning and action. At the same time, many of the solutions to reducing regional greenhouse gas emissions can be led by regional cooperation and offer economic benefit. By sharing best practices from around the globe, GCoM can help regions expedite the planning process and find solutions to their common issues.