Collaboration to Accelerate Climate Action by Bringing Cities and National Governments Together on Research and Innovation Agenda

Mission Innovation and Global Covenant of Mayors Enter into Formal Collaboration

Collaboration to Accelerate Climate Action by Bringing Cities and National Governments Together on Research and Innovation Agenda

May 28, 2019, Vancouver –– Mission Innovation and the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy today announced their commitment to strengthen collaboration and build deeper engagement between cities and citizens, local governments, and national governments to deliver the research and innovation needed to help cities and governments accelerate the clean energy revolution.

No single organization, initiative, sector, or level of government, however innovative or impactful, can accomplish all the transformational change required to meet the challenges of tackling climate change-related to energy access and energy security and the UN 2030 Sustainability Goals. The collaboration between Mission Innovation (MI) and the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy (GCoM) will maximize synergy between the priorities of the two initiatives – particularly in advancing the shared goal of accelerating clean energy innovation.

The collaboration will connect national governments, the private sector and mayors to tackle the specific innovation challenges of cities and to utilize their scale and complexity to move promising technologies from ambition to full-scale implementation.

Through this collaboration, MI and GCoM will work together areas to identify and deliver shared innovation priorities at the city level, share best-practice on roadblocks that can hinder implementation of innovative and integrated technologies and move forward progress through engagement at significant events, such as the annual Mission Innovation Ministerials.

“Climate change does not respect borders,” said the Honourable Amarjeet Sohi, Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources. “It is a global challenge, requiring cooperation between cities, and governments at all levels from around the world. By working together, we can create a sustainable, inclusive clean energy future where everyone prospers.”

Vice President of the European Commission and Co-chair of the Global Covenant Maroš Šefčovič said: “We envision a world where committed mayors and national governments – in alliance with partners – accelerate ambitious, measurable climate and energy initiatives that lead to a low-emission and climate-resilient future. Our partnership with Mission Innovation is essential to making this happen.”

Michael Bloomberg, the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Climate Action and Co-chair of the Global Covenant of Mayors, said: “Local and national governments have a critical role to play in accelerating the fight against climate change. One way they can do that is by spreading strong climate strategies around the world. I’m glad to see Mission Innovation and the Global Covenant of Mayors committed to doing exactly that.”

European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation Carlos Moedas said: “If we want to reach our long term climate targets, we need not only support the development of new technologies, we also need the opportunity to demonstrate them in real life. To see if they really deliver impact. What better place to do this than in cities, where so many of our energy related challenges and opportunities come together. This partnership is a huge step in the right direction.”

Mayor of Edmonton Don Iveson said: “Today’s announcement is a milestone on the city journey to build ties with national governments – ties we very much need to accelerate our climate action ambition. By partnering with Mission Innovation we will be able to convene the best and brightest innovators at the city and national levels to share the ideas and innovation to create the urban systemic change we need.”

About Mission Innovation

Launched at COP21 in November 2015, Mission Innovation (MI) is a global initiative designed to accelerate the pace of innovation and make clean energy widely affordable. Led by the public sector, it aims to mobilise both public and private sector efforts. MI also provides a platform to support collaboration among members and facilitate engagement with business, industry and investors, in order to attract more public and private funding into innovative clean energy research.

http://mission-innovation.net/

About the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy

GCoM is the largest global alliance for climate leadership, uniting a global coalition of over 9,200 cities and local governments. The cities and partners of the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy 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. Led by UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Climate Action, Michael R. Bloomberg, and European Commission Vice President, Maroš Šefčovič, the coalition comprises cities across 6 continents and 132 countries, representing over 800 million people or 10% of the global population.

https://www.globalcovenantofmayors.org/

For more information:

Global Covenant of Mayors

Marshall Cohen, mcohen@globalcovenantofmayors.org, +32 492 25 56 31

Mission Innovation

Julie Anderson, Julie.anderson2@canada.ca, tel. +1 613 447-8479

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