Frequently Asked Questions

The 2026 Innovate4Cities Conference (I4C26) is the fourth global convening at the crossroads of city climate science, decision-making, and implementation. Co-hosted by the Global Covenant of Mayors and UN-Habitat, it brings together the people who generate evidence, make decisions, shape policy and implement urban climate action across local, regional, and national government, alongside academia, civil society and industry. I4C26 convenes both cutting-edge science on climate change and cities as well as the translation required to ensure it informs – and accelerates – policy and practice at scale.

The conference responds to and builds on outcomes from global climate processes, including the IPCC Special Report on Climate Change and Cities (SRCities) and the decisions taken under the UNFCCC at COP30. It tracks progress and co-generates evidence for the Coalition for High Ambition Multilevel Partnerships (CHAMP) and Sustainable Urban Resilience for the Next Generation (SURGe) initiatives, engages with the next generation of Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement (NDC 3.0), and draws on the momentum of the Montréal Call to Action on Cities, Climate Research, and Governance, connecting city-level evidence with national and global processes.

Held previously in 2018, 2021, and 2024, the 2026 Innovate4Cities Conference is coming to Nairobi, Kenya on 21-24 June 2026.

Innovate4Cities is a core initiative of the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy (GCoM), running in concurrence with the Invest4Cities and Data4Cities initiatives. It is the role of I4C to identify and tackle the identified data, information, and technology gaps prioritized by cities and local governments for climate action. I4C is positioned to facilitate science-based, technology-driven, replicable sustainable action and implementation at local level, across the world.

GCoM membership is not a prerequisite to involvement in the 2026 Innovate4Cities Conference.However, for more information about the requirements of being committed to GCoM, and to express your interest to join GCoM, you can register here.

The Global Research & Action Agenda (GRAA) frames the next generation of knowledge and innovation synthesis built to inform broader processes like the IPCC Special Report on Climate Change and Cities. Founded on evidence from Innovate4Cities Conferences and Marketplaces since 2018 and the 226 sessions that were facilitated as part of the formal I4C24 Schedule, the GRAA also aims to infuse cutting-edge practice, research, and innovation into each step of the city climate action journey—while tackling knowledge gaps and action priorities surrounding the new pillars of justice and equity, systems approaches, and city-level models, data, and knowledge.

The conference will:

• Synthesize and mobilize research, knowledge, and innovation generated across science, policy, practice, and business to address high-priority GRAA areas, with a view to supporting the finalization of SRCities and informing processes such as COP and the World Urban Forum.
• Support the SRCities process by gathering evidence, case studies, and experience from local governments, networks, and practitioners, aligned with the evidence needs of SRCities and the GRAA.
• Strengthen partnerships across research, practice, business, and innovation, connecting opportunities linked to CHAMP, the UN Pact for the Future, and the Global Digital Compact, while using tools such as the Climate Innovation Readiness Navigator (CIRN) to support city climate action journeys.

Cities and local governments are instrumental to pathways that achieve low-emission, resilient, and safe communities around the world. Converting your ambition into action, however, often requires partnerships, expertise, capacity, and knowledge of business, academia, and civil society to implement your plans. Innovate4Cities Marketplaces allow cities and local governments like yours to:

• Connect and match with businesses and academics on unique project/ solution/program offerings that can facilitate action plan implementation; and,
• Learn from other cities and local governments about sustainability-related challenges and opportunities they face – and share good practices to address them.

The private sector is playing an increasingly critical role in delivering urban climate solutions contributing expertise, innovation, and investment at unprecedented scale. Yet identifying viable, investable opportunities in cities often requires time, trusted relationships, and a clear understanding of local needs, risks, and enabling conditions.

I4C26 offers a unique platform for businesses, investors, and solution providers to engage directly with cities, local governments, and research institutions working at the forefront of climate action. Through 2026 Innovate4Cities Conference, private sector participants can:

• Connect directly with cities and local governments to identify concrete implementation, policy, and research challenges where private expertise, technology, and investment can unlock impact and returns.
• Explore investment-ready opportunities while gaining insights into local governance, planning processes, and project pipelines – supporting more efficient and informed due diligence.
• Learn from peers across the private sector about common barriers, risks, and opportunities in urban climate investment, and exchange good practices for scaling solutions at the city level.
• Strengthen collaboration across the science–policy–finance nexus, aligning commercial objectives with credible climate evidence and city-led priorities.

By bringing together cities, researchers, and the private sector in one space, I4C26 can support businesses to translate climate ambition into implementable, bankable, and scalable urban solutions, delivering value for both climate outcomes and business performance.

Civil society plays a critical role in shaping both the ideas and the spaces that define how cities function. For sustainable, inclusive, and resilient urban societies to emerge and endure, civil society must be actively engaged in shaping public discourse, influencing decision-making, and co-creating the physical and social environments in which people live and interact.

Innovation often emerges in response to necessity and understanding the lived realities, priorities, and needs of communities is essential to addressing urban challenges effectively. Doing so requires close coordination between civil society, local governments, the private sector, and the research community.

I4C26 provides a dedicated platform for non-governmental organisations and civil society actors to:

• Connect and collaborate with local governments, researchers, and businesses to address implementation, policy, social, and cultural challenges — leveraging citizen action, community knowledge, and information networks to drive inclusive solutions.
• Learn from and partner with other civil society and non-governmental organisations to exchange experiences on representation, participation, and social cohesion at the intersection of cities and sustainability, and to share practical examples of what works.
• Strengthen the role of community-driven action in city climate solutions, ensuring that urban innovation is socially grounded, locally relevant, and responsive to real community needs.

GCoM’s three core initiatives focus on generating the next generation of knowledge, data, tools, and technical support for local policymakers to tackle sustainability challenges and contribute to a global climate solution. 

• Innovate4Cities delivers a nexus point between decision-makers and solutions providers.
• Invest4Cities is GCoM’s platform to facilitate and mobilize cities’ access to climate finance and technical assistance for critical investment in urban climate change mitigation and resilience projects.
• Data4Cities is the evidence-based foundation to measure and manage cities and local governments’ climate ambition and progress in a standard and consistent way as a means to drive innovation and investment.

Launched at COP26, The Urban Transitions Mission (UTM) is a global initiative to mobilize decision makers across all levels of government to prioritise climate-neutral and net-zero pathways enabled by clean energy and systemic innovation across all sectors and in urban governance. The Mission works with a growing cohort of 136 ambitious cities worldwide to demonstrate integrated pathways towards holistic, people-centred urban transitions built around clean energy and innovative net-zero carbon solutions.

The UTM is one of the seven missions of Mission Innovation. Co-led by the European Commission, the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy, and JPI Urban Europe, UTM mobilises a Global Innovation Alliance of partners, and national governments to support cities to develop, pilot, and scale innovative solutions and approaches for urban transitions. 

UTM works closely with Innovate4Cities to close the gap between research, development, and deployment of systemic innovation. UTM acts as a high-impact solutions broker, helping to turn the research priorities identified by I4C into tangible urban action by connecting cities with academia, research and private sector partners to co-develop solutions to key challenges and R&I gaps identified. To harness established expertise and foster knowledge partnerships between cities and academia, the UTM and I4C have launched the UTM Research Clusters, collaborative hubs inviting academics, researchers, universities, and think tanks to engage with the UTM city cohort in the co-creation of innovative solutions using localized science, data, and other insights, offering a platform to test new approaches.

For more information about becoming a signatory of  the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy, please click here.

The City Research and Innovation Agenda (CRIA) identifies and tackles the data, information, and technology gaps that cities have prioritized and, if addressed, would drive science-based, technology-driven, replicable sustainable action and implementation at the scale the world needs and cities demand.

As new participants register, the range of offerings will continue to grow for all participants. Public sector participants will offer opportunities for innovative sustainability practices in urban governance, private sector will offer goods and services to deploy in the interest of sustainable practices, and academia brings the opportunity to supplement these efforts under the GRAA/CRIA with iterative efforts in data collection, analysis, and synthesis of research to develop new innovations for application. The I4C24 provides a platform to generate knowledge around policy, research, and innovation gaps at the nexus of city climate action that feeds into longer-term engagement opportunities through the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy (GCoM) and UNHabitat cooperation.

With ever-greater need to fill knowledge gaps and co-design research and solutions at the intersection of cities, policy, and climate science, academia is a core piece of the urban sustainability puzzle.The Innovate4Cities 2021 Conference highlighted that accelerated recruitment of urban scholars, city focused climate scientists and graduate research students are critical. Innovate4Cities Marketplaces allow research institutions, academics, graduate researchers to:

• Connect and match with local governments and businesses on implementation, policy, and research needs/challenges that can be supported by your knowledge, projects, and collaboration opportunities; and,
• Learn from and partner with other academics and research institutions about challenges and opportunities they face in the pursuit of research at the nexus of cities and sustainability – and share good practices to address them.

Register your interest for the 2024 Innovate4Cities Conference and join the GCoM network. As supporting events take place leading into the Innovate4Cities 2024 conference, develop an understanding of the scope of urban innovation required around the world through GCoM members and partner institutions. Expressions of interest for marketplace offerings may be submitted here.

The Cities and Climate Change Science Conference (CitiesIPCC Conference) took place from 5-7 March 2018, in Edmonton, Canada. The proposal for this conference was approved by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in October 2016 and subsequently co-organized by a diverse group of organizations, including UN-Habitat, UN Environment (UNEP), C40, Cities Alliance, ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI), Future Earth, the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG). The conference brought together over 750 participants, including researchers, practitioners and policymakers.

The proceedings of Cities & Climate Change Science Conference held in 2018 are available here. and the resulting 2019 Global Research and Action Agenda for Cities and Climate Change Science (GRAA) can be found here.

Building on the 2018 Edmonton Cities and Climate Change Science Conference and the resulting Global Research and Action Agenda (GRAA) on Cities and Climate Change Science, the Innovate4Cities 2021 Conference (I4C 2021) focused on the nexus of science, practice, and innovation – including local challenges, priority needs, and cross-sector opportunities to realize ambitious climate action.

The event highlighted more than 500 urban innovative solutions to address climate change and brought together more than 7000 practitioners, researchers, policymakers, innovators, youth, and business leaders to deliver a strong message on the knowledge and partnerships needed to raise climate ambition.

The Innovate4Cities 2021 Conference was co-hosted by the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy (GCoM) and UN-Habitat, and co-sponsored by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

The Innovate4Cities 2021 Conference proceedings are available for review here.

For an understanding of the insights & outcomes of the I4C Marketplace activities informing the 2024 I4C Conference agenda, the report is available here.

Insret language here