Global Covenant of Mayors' report shows cities are leading climate action, with 58% of its signatories setting higher emissions targets than national governments.
However, access to climate finance, especially in emerging markets, remains a critical challenge.
The alliance plans to focus on implementation through enhanced urban climate finance and innovative solutions.
More than half the cities and local governments participating in a global climate alliance have set emissions reduction targets that exceed their national governments' ambitions, and nearly one-third aim to achieve their targets sooner, according to a new report launched at the 31st Conference of the Parties (COP31) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Antalya, Türkiye.
The Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy (GCoM), an international alliance for city climate leadership, has found that some 7,500 of its 14,000 signatories — or 58 per cent — have set emissions reduction targets that are more ambitious than those of their national governments.
Some 28 per cent of the local authorities aim to achieve their targets sooner, according to GCoM’s 2026 Impact Report, launched at COP31 on November 11.
The report, released to mark GCoM’s tenth anniversary, highlights the growing role of local governments in driving climate action as countries face pressure to translate national commitments under the Paris Agreement into faster emissions reductions and adaptation measures.
GCoM notes that since its launch in 2016, the alliance has doubled in size to represent one in seven people globally. Collectively, its signatories have the potential to reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions by 4.8 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) by 2050, the report said. This is equivalent to more than four months of global crude oil production at current levels.
“The 2026 GCoM Impact Report is proof that city ambition hasn’t fallen; national commitments have risen,” said Anne Hidalgo, global ambassador of GCoM. She said local governments had continued to advance climate and energy action over the past decade.
The report points to an increase in the number of cities translating net-zero commitments into implementation plans. The number of signatories with net-zero targets and accompanying implementation pathways rose from 211 in 2025 to 580 in 2026.
Meanwhile, 3,078 cities have completed climate risk assessments covering approximately 735 million people.
Examples include Viladecans in Spain, where a public-private-citizen partnership is advancing energy efficiency and sustainable housing renovation as the city works towards climate neutrality by 2030. San Luis Potosí in Mexico has developed a real-time digital risk atlas to improve disaster prevention and urban planning, while Kisumu County in Kenya is preparing a roadmap to achieve 100 per cent renewable energy by 2050.
Despite growing local ambition, access to finance remains a significant barrier, particularly in developing countries. Of the US $831 billion in annual urban climate finance tracked by the Cities Climate Finance Leadership Alliance (CCFLA), barely 1 per cent is directed towards adaptation, the report said.
Cities in emerging markets and developing economies receive approximately $6 billion annually, against estimated requirements of $147 billion a year by 2030.
GCoM's partnership with the City Climate Finance Gap Fund has engaged 452 cities across 63 countries, supported 347 climate project ideas and provided capacity-building to more than 1,100 participants.
In central Bosnia, early-stage technical support through the partnership helped secure €12 million in financing from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for energy-efficiency improvements in 50 public buildings.
The report said 61 per cent of residents represented by GCoM signatories now live in the Global South, while smaller municipalities account for 83 per cent of the alliance's members.
It also highlights the growing recognition of urban areas in national climate plans. According to UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) data cited by GCoM, 81 per cent of national climate commitments now include strong urban content, compared with 49 per cent in the previous round.
At COP31, GCoM also launched three publications drawing on the 2026 Innovate4Cities Conference in Nairobi: the Innovate4Cities Outcomes Report, the Youth Team Reflections Report and the Global Research and Action Agenda 2026-2028 Priorities. The publications identify priorities for urban climate finance, youth participation and local knowledge, and the use of research and data in the forthcoming Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on Cities.
The alliance said its next phase would focus on accelerating implementation through climate finance, data, innovation and partnerships, as cities seek to convert their climate commitments into measurable outcomes.