Partnerships for co-creation of knowledge and research
Empower cities to act, raise ambition, and scale implementation
Knowledge-sharing on a specific topic, method, and/or output
Capacity building in climate science data and analyses
National climate commitments increasingly reference urban areas, yet a persistent implementation gap separates these pledges from city-level action. This session examines that gap through an interregional lens, bringing together practitioners from the Caribbean and Africa o share how countries and cities are translating NDCs and National Adaptation Plans into locally actionable urban strategies.
In the Caribbean, a systematic analysis of CARICOM NDCs reveals highly uneven urban specificity across island states where national and city scales often converge. In Africa, Ethiopia presents a contrasting case with strong urban NDC content yet persistent subnational capacity challenges.
Through practitioner testimony and comparative analysis, the session surfaces common barriers (data scarcity, institutional asymmetries, limited municipal capacity) and shared pathways, landing on the SURGE initiative as a co-production mechanism that supports cities in closing the gap between national ambition and urban delivery across regions.
Christopher G. L. Gibbs
Mohammed Giymah
