December 2025 Newsletter

Dear friends and colleagues, 

On behalf of the United Nations Environment Programme, we are honored to bring you the final UrbanShift newsletter of 2025, right on the heels of a busy and inspiring past few months. Just weeks ago, COP30 concluded in Brazil with commitments to triple adaptation finance by 2035 and mobilize at least $1.3 trillion annually for climate action by 2035. UrbanShift and our partners played a vital role in elevating the potential of local action to address the climate crisis. More than ever, it’s clear that cities can and must lead on implementing transformative climate solutions. COP30 and the Local Leaders Forum in Rio earlier in November both highlighted avenues for strengthening local climate action—from unlocking financing for green transitions to amplifying policies to support urban nature. With extreme urban heat emerging as one of the most pressing challenges for cities amid the intensifying climate crisis, we invite cities within the UrbanShift Network to participate in Beat the Heat—a transformative initiative to accelerate uptake of local heat-mitigation solutions—launched formally during COP30.   

The momentum continued after COP30 with the UNEA-7 Cities and Regions Summit, which UNEP was honored to host in the lead-up to the  seventh session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-7) on 5 December 2025. This Summit shone a spotlight on how cities and regions are addressing environmental challenges and building a more resilient planet through integrated approaches, gathering more than 90 attendees in person and almost 600 attendees online from across the world. Leaders from Nouakchott to Catalonia, from Yaoundé to Shanghai are cutting emissions, improving air quality and restoring ecosystems. 

Finally, we are closing out our 2025 with the launch of the final UrbanShift Annual Report. This document reflects not only on our collective progress across the program over the past year, but since UrbanShift launched in 2021. Within it, you can read inspiring stories of transformation from each of our nine focus countries, learn insights from UrbanShift’s four partner organizations—UNEP, World Resources Institute, C40 Cities, and ICLEI—and read about what’s next for the program.  

As we move into the end of the year and look forward to 2026, we are excited for the momentum of the UrbanShift program to continue under the next phase of the Global Environment Facility’s Sustainable Cities Impact Program.  

Thank you for your continued support of UrbanShift and your efforts to uplift the value of cities in the fight for a more equitable and resilient planet for all. Wishing you a happy and healthy end to 2025!  

Gulnara Roll / Head, Cities Unit, Mitigation Branch, Climate Change Division, UN Environment Programme 

What’s Next for the UrbanShift Network? 

As the UrbanShift program comes to a close, the Global Environment Facility’s Sustainable Cities Impact Program (SCIP) continues to accelerate. In the GEF-8 cycle, which begins next year, SCIP aims to build on the successes of UrbanShift and continue to support integrated urban planning with a cohort of 20 countries and almost 50 cities. Learn more about what’s in store for cities under GEF-8.

Upcoming Opportunities

Town Hall COP: Connecting climate action at all levels 

National climate decisions often feel distant—but climate impacts hit close to home. Town Hall COPs bring the global climate conversation to your doorstep. We invite local governments, municipal authorities and local communities to bring the climate movement home by hosting a Town Hall COP. The Town Hall COP is an easy-to-apply model for any community interested in engaging residents on climate change and the issues that are most important to them while also providing important linkages to national and international processes.  

Inspired by the structure of UN Climate Change Conferences (COPs), Town Hall COPs provide local governments with an opportunity to create an inclusive space where local stakeholders, such as government officials, scientific community, businesses, youth, Indigenous Peoples, informal communities, other often underrepresented peoples, and civil society at large, can convene to discuss climate goals, review progress, and identify pathways for enhancing local climate action and connecting to their national goals and plans. Get started.