Launch of New Climate Innovation Navigator and Enhanced Data Portal at I4C24, Empowering Cities to Drive Climate Action

Launch of Climate Innovation Navigator and Advanced GHG Tracking Capabilities at I4C24, Engaging 2,000+ Participants Across 200+ Sessions from 100+ Countries, 

Montréal, CA (September 13, 2024) – The 2024 Innovate4Cities Conference (I4C24) concluded after three days of dynamic knowledge sharing and collaboration among over 2,000 participants in Montréal and online. Co-hosted by the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy (GCoM) and UN-Habitat, I4C24 brought together decision makers, scientists, civil society leaders, and city climate experts from over 100 countries across 6 continents. With more than 200 sessions, the event provided an essential convening space for the leading voices of city climate action to synthesize knowledge and scale up urban climate policies and solutions.

Day one of I4C24 kicked-off with powerful remarks from Montréal Mayor Valérie Plante, host city of the event, who underscored the essential link between finance and sustainable development: “Finance must go hand in hand with sustainable development, and the latter cannot advance without finance. That is what we are here for; we must create opportunities and find solutions.” The day featured a series of insightful sessions and case studies, all centered around bolstering multi-level governance and partnerships, and advancing climate-resilient actions through coordinated planning across multiple levels of governance.

Day two focused on building city resilience, promoting environmental justice, and sharing research and innovation tools. In a plenary session on Making City Climate Action Inclusive, Fair, and Just, Former Grand Chief of the Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke, Kahsennenhawe Sky-Deer, underscored: “I feel like there are still so many people going about their day-to-day lives, not really caring, acknowledging, or knowing that they could be part of the solution. And we have to help them. We have to pull people along on this journey to get educated and understand that we all have a role to play [in climate action].”

Day three tackled how to mobilize urban climate finance and foster knowledge sharing across sectors, featuring sessions on data collection and measuring climate progress. Developments in AI innovation for city climate action were showcased, with DUCTExplorer! winning the AI x City Climate Action Hackathon challenge. This tool helps cities and their partners adopt new approaches to climate risk and vulnerability assessment using AI applications, geospatial tools, and data.

Among the numerous takeaways, I4C24 also helped inform the next-generation Global Research and Action Agenda (GRAA), a systems approach to research and innovation in urban planning and design utilizing city-level models to deliver just and equitable action in climate resilient development. During the Prioritizing knowledge and action: the next-generation Global Research and Action Agenda (GRAA) plenary session, IPCC Vice-Chair, Diana Ürge-Vorsatz, emphasized that “the GRAA is seminal in making sure that more of the science is used and made more meaningful.”

Over the course of three days, I4C24 saw the launch of several tools and key announcements, including an agreement to host the next Innovate4Cities Conference in 2026—further cementing the global commitment to advancing urban climate solutions. Key highlights include:

• GCoM, in partnership with ARUP, released the Climate Innovation Readiness Navigator for Cities and Local Governments (CIRN). This rapid assessment framework helps local authorities understand and enhance their capacity to accelerate innovative climate solutions.
• GCoM announced the launch of exciting new features to its Data Portal for Cities, offering new capabilities that help cities build comprehensive GHG inventories. These enhancements provide a solid foundation for evidence-based climate action plans, enabling cities to track their progress over time.

Additional speakers included UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Climate Ambition and Solutions and founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies and GCoM Co-Chair Michael R. Bloomberg, Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal, Interinstitutional Relations and Foresight, European Commission and GCoM Co-Chair Mr. Maroš Šefčovič, Global Covenant of Mayors Co-managing Director Andy Deacon, UN-Habitat Executive Director Anaclaudia Rossbach, Director of the Melbourne Centre for Cities at the University of Melbourne and Senior Advisor of Innovate4Cities Dr. Cathy Oke, Mayor of Despeñaderos Carolina Basualdo, and others. 

Cities face significant challenges from the impacts of climate change. Never before has global collaboration on advancing city climate action and bridging the gap between local and global efforts been more important. Discussions and outcomes from I4C24 will contribute to the upcoming IPCC Special Report on Climate Change and Cities to be released at the twelfth session of the World Urban Forum (WUF 12). 

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About the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy (GCoM)

GCoM is the largest global alliance for city climate leadership, uniting a global coalition of over 13,000 cities and local governments and 100+ supporting partners. The cities and partners of GCoM share a long-term vision of supporting voluntary action to combat climate change and towards a resilient and low-emission society. GCoM serves cities and local governments by mobilizing and supporting ambitious, measurable, planned climate and energy action in their communities by working with city/regional networks, national governments, and other partners to achieve our vision. The coalition comprises cities across 6 continents and 146 countries, representing over 1 billion people or more than 13 percent of the global population.

To learn more about GCoM, please visit our website, or follow us on X, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.