Climate Week in partnership with UN General Assembly started in New York – Finland joined CHAMP initiative to boost climate action in cities and regions

Cities and municipalities are in a key position in terms of reaching the climate targets, both in Finland and globally. Finland has joined the UN CHAMP initiative to support the climate work of cities and regions.

CHAMP (Coalition for High Ambition Multilevel Partnerships) is an initiative that aims to strengthen the role of local administrations in the fight against climate change. The main purpose of the initiative is to promote cooperation on climate issues between the different administrative levels, including between cities, regions and states, in the planning, financing, implementation and monitoring of climate strategies.

“Regional climate work is becoming even more effective, and it also has a bigger role than before in the achievement of climate targets. In Finland we have numerous municipalities and cities that are doing very good climate work and making serious efforts to boost climate action. By joining the CHAMP initiative we want to give our support to the work done at the regional level, both in Finland and globally,” Minister of Climate and the Environment Kai Mykkänen says.

The states are bound by the Paris Climate Agreement, where the world countries agreed on the goal to limit the global average temperature rise to below two degrees and to aim at the limit of 1.5 degrees compared to pre-industrial era. This goal cannot be reached unless other key players – such as municipalities and regions – are also committed to the global climate effort. After the Paris Agreement was adopted, the states and other actors have introduced numerous initiatives to strengthen the implementation of the Agreement.

The CHAMP initiative was launched last year in connection with the Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai, where the agenda also included the first Local Climate Action Summit. More than 60 countries signed the CHAMP initiative during COP28 and now the number of signatories is as high as 72.

Finland’s participation in the CHAMP initiative will be published on 23 September as part of the Climate Week events organised in partnership with the UN General Assembly. Finland’s representatives at the events are Senior Ministerial Adviser Kerstin Stendahl representing the State of Finland and Mayor of Turku Minna Arve, who represents the local level.

The Climate Week paves the way for the UN Climate Change Conference COP29 to be organised in Baku, Azerbaijan on 11–22 November 2024.

Inquiries

Lyydia Ylönen 
Special Adviser to the Minister 
tel. +358 50 476 1341 
[email protected] 

Kerstin Stendahl
Senior Ministerial Adviser
tel. +358 295 250 023
[email protected]

Marjo Nummelin
Finland’s Chief Negotiator
tel. +358 40 523 3710
[email protected]