Three critical ideas from the Cities Climate Action Summit 2025

Sandra Baer, Brand Ambassador at SmartCitiesWorld and CEO of Personal Cities, writes for LGIU about her personal reflections on this year’s Cities Climate Action Summit, outlining the three critical ideas that stood out to her most. 

As a stubborn optimist, I see the mandate for city-leading actions. Cities have an ever-growing opportunity to become even stronger climate advocates, and in fact, they have the competency, the intelligence, and the leadership to take actions that will reduce carbon emissions, build community buy-in, and create more resilient, more livable cities. 

From the 2025 SmartCitiesWorld “Cities Climate Action Summit,” three critical ideas stood out for me: 

1.  A massive financial investment is needed.

US $3.5 trillion to meet the Paris Agreement 2050 goals, which cannot be met by national governments alone. Councillor Susan Aitken, Leader at Glasgow City Council, spoke to the need for a fundamental shift in how climate finance flows to cities, advocating for direct access to capital, innovative financing approaches, and supportive national structures that enable local action to accelerate the net-zero transition. In addition, new and innovative partnerships between corporations, startups, financial institutions and NGO’s are vital to accelerating climate adaptation and mitigation solutions. 

2.  Communications that show the impact of climate change on local communities must be stronger, more compelling and more human.

Cities have the platform to drive real-world impact; local stories from severe weather events, for example, can show the impact on “our head, our hearts and our wallets.” Cities must tell their stories to convince residents of their power to make a difference. Cities and their partners need to reframe the conversations: City sustainability is not a cost; it is an investment in a resilient future. The critical messages must reinforce, on a daily basis, a city’s ability to move quickly, to trust science and take decisive, pragmatic actions.

As Emma Howard Boyd, Chair, London Climate Resilience Review, pointed out, “We must empower communities to participate in climate resilience efforts to foster ownership, build trust, and ensure that initiatives are effective and inclusive.” Emma’s organisation created “40℃ STORIES” to share the personal stories of how people are affected by extreme heat—meaningful communications, in human terms, to get behind the headlines and statistics… and ultimately gain public support and drive collective action.

3.  As climate challenges accelerate, city leaders must build their expertise across business, policy, and technology.

In an increasingly uncertain and unpredictable world, savvy leaders in urban and rural spaces are actively making small and big changes. At the Cities Climate Action Summit, I talked with four leading US Mayors who understand the competition and the collaborations needed to effect realistic outcomes. To highlight a few:

1. Mayor Jon Mitchell, New Bedford, MA is launching NB Resilient to reset goals on energy, economy, jobs, waste, safety, and land use. Investing in clean transport, New Bedford has the largest municipal fleet of electric cars in Massachusetts.
2. Under Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird, Lincoln, NE leadership, Lincoln was awarded funding to develop a Biochar Project to turn wood waste into a carbon-rich soil amendment, improving soil health, and increasing crop yields.
3. Mayor Victoria Woodards, Tacoma, WA, has a Climate Action Plan that fosters nature-based solutions, planting one million trees to mitigate the urban heat island effect. She is leading the creation of jobs that fully support the green economy.
4. As Mayor Steve Patterson, Athens, Ohio, notes, the county is experiencing exceptional drought, increased heat and intense storms. Athens has implemented a carbon fee through a ballot initiative that generates funds for renewable energy projects, installing solar panels at the wastewater treatment plant and upgrading LED lighting across the city.

Importantly, in each of these initiatives, these Mayors have pulled together partnerships—business, academia, policy gurus, technology experts and nonprofits to “get things done!”

4.  Our collective ability to rebuild trust will be the foundation for cities to meet the defining moment of our time. Beyond our accomplishments, our success will be measured by the barriers we overcome. Working together, we will gain the confidence and the passion to act decisively for the common good. 

I want to give special thanks to Heather Yedigaroff, COO, and Caitlin Lord, Membership Coordinator at the Local Government Information Unit (LGIU). And of course, to all of my colleagues at SmartCitiesWorld!

Looking for more? Read the LGIU team’s takeaways of the SmartCities Cities Climate Action Summit here.