The Global Cities Hub is intensifying its work in the field of environmental diplomacy, recognizing the growing interest of cities and regions to participate actively in international discussions and decision-making. Main places where this happens are Climate and others Conferences of Parties (COPs) as well as United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA).
As local and regional governments increasingly implement and are impacted by environmental policies and multilateral agreements, GCH has taken a significant step by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Following the signature of the MoU, GCH President Sami Kanaan and UNEP Director Arnold Kreilhuber discussed the common challenges and reconfirmed the commitment to closer collaboration, particularly with UNEP’s City Unit, which focuses on engaging urban stakeholders in global environmental processes.
Also, GCH Co-Director Kamelia Kemileva represents, together with Yunus Arikan (ICLEI), the Local Authorities Major Group (LAMG) within the Friends of Stakeholder Engagement at UNEP group. It is a new platform, created under UNEA 6 in 2024, which meant to secure the dialogue between all member states and all major groups, including LAMG ahead of UNEA 7 and in other processes. In this role, they contribute directly to critical negotiations, including the Ministerial Declaration for the upcoming UNEA-7 (see here ).
This representation role serves as a key bridge between local authorities and central governments, promoting that subnational perspectives are reflected in the intergovernmental decision-making processes of bodies like UNEA.