COP31: 7,500 Cities Set Climate Targets Tougher Than Their National Governments
The Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy (GCoM), the world's largest alliance of cities working on climate change, released its 2026 Impact Report at COP31 in Antalya, Türkiye, on 11 November 2026. The report marks the alliance's tenth anniversary.
About 7,500 of its 14,000 member cities and local governments (58%) have set emission-cut targets that are more ambitious than their own national governments' targets. About 28% aim to reach their targets earlier than planned.
If members meet their goals, they could cut 4.8 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) of greenhouse gases every year by 2050. GCoM now represents about one in seven people on Earth.
Members with net-zero targets and a clear plan to get there rose from 211 in 2025 to 580 in 2026. 3,078 cities have finished climate risk assessments (studies of how climate change could hurt them), covering about 735 million people.
Money remains the big problem. Of about US$831 billion of urban climate finance tracked every year, barely 1% goes to adaptation (protecting people from climate impacts). Cities in developing economies get about US$6 billion a year, but need an estimated US$147 billion a year by 2030.
Citing UN-Habitat data, the report says 81% of national climate plans now have strong content about cities, up from 49% in the previous round. 61% of the people covered by GCoM live in the Global South, and smaller towns make up 83% of members.
Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy (GCoM)
The Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy (GCoM) is a worldwide alliance of cities and local governments that have promised to fight climate change. Each member city agrees to measure its own greenhouse gas emissions, set targets to cut them, study its climate risks and make a plan of action. It is a voluntary group: no law forces a city to join. As of November 2026, it has about 14,000 members, representing roughly one in seven people on the planet.
GCoM released its 2026 Impact Report at COP31 to mark ten years since it was formed. It found that 58% of its members have targets tougher than their national governments, but also that cities in poorer countries get only a tiny share of the climate money they need.
Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) Under the Paris Agreement
A Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) is a country's own climate action plan under the Paris Agreement. It says how much the country will cut or limit its greenhouse gas emissions and how it will adapt to climate change. Each country decides its own NDC, which is why it is called "nationally determined". Countries must send a new, stronger NDC every five years.
The GCoM report compares city targets with NDCs and finds that 58% of member cities have set goals stronger than their own country's NDC. It also notes that NDCs now pay much more attention to cities than before.
Adaptation Finance Under the UNFCCC and Paris Agreement
Adaptation finance is money spent to help people, farms, cities and nature cope with climate change effects that are already happening or can no longer be avoided. It pays for things like better drains, heat-resistant crops, early warning systems and stronger embankments. Most climate money so far has gone to mitigation (cutting emissions), because those projects, like solar parks, earn profits. Adaptation projects, like a flood wall, protect lives but rarely earn money, so private investors avoid them.
The GCoM report shows that the adaptation money gap is worst at the city level, where floods and heatwaves actually hit people. This is why it calls finance the biggest barrier to turning city targets into action.
- GCoM 2026 Impact Report released 11 November 2026 at COP31, Antalya, Türkiye (GCoM's tenth anniversary)
- About 7,500 of 14,000 signatories (58%) have targets more ambitious than their national governments
- 28% of local authorities aim to reach targets earlier than planned
- Potential cut: 4.8 gigatonnes CO2e per year by 2050
- GCoM represents about one in seven people worldwide; it has doubled in size since 2016
- Signatories with net-zero targets and pathways: 211 (2025) to 580 (2026)
- 3,078 cities have completed climate risk assessments, covering about 735 million people
- Urban climate finance tracked: about US$831 billion a year; barely 1% to adaptation
- Developing-economy cities: about US$6 billion a year received vs US$147 billion a year needed by 2030
- City Climate Finance Gap Fund partnership: 452 cities in 63 countries, 347 project ideas supported
- 61% of residents covered live in the Global South; smaller municipalities are 83% of members
- 81% of national climate plans have strong urban content (up from 49%), per UN-Habitat data
- Example cities: Viladecans, Spain (climate neutrality by 2030); San Luis Potosí, Mexico (digital risk atlas); Kisumu County, Kenya (100% renewables by 2050)