Why local action is crucial to addressing global climate change

Climate change is a global issue: its effects are not limited by borders. Yet, the physical effects of climate change vary dramatically between and even within a country – not to mention the differing capacities to handle climate change effects at local, national and regional levels. With global decision-making increasingly ending in a stalemate, has the time come to return to grassroots-up climate action?

Around the world, communities and collectives are working locally to address their specific circumstances. The changes they’re achieving could offer a scalable blueprint for the planet.

The Climate Reality Project's June 2024 training cohort of one thousand climate leaders, approximately 10% of which are Global Shapers, has shown that there is a global network of inspired activists who want to take regionally relevant action locally. So, what does global change-making informed by community collaboration look like in practice?

One of the key messages at the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos 2024 was to not underestimate the power of partnerships. By leveraging different experiences, knowledge and approaches, we can collectively adapt to best practice; benefitting from the learnings of others. We already have the solutions to at least halve emissions by 2030: the gaps lie in implementation.

By connecting existing networks, such as the emerging young leaders in the Global Shapers, innovators in the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship and the environmental advocates in the Climate Reality Leadership Corps, we can take locally learned lessons and apply them to other locations or contexts.

While Kate Raworth’s Doughnut Economics started life as a research paper, the community around the Doughnut Economic Action Lab led to Amsterdam using the Doughnut to inform its Circular 2020 – 2025 strategy. The city-level Doughnut approach has been made publicly available for local authorities around the world to adopt and adapt, with 56 networks active on the website as of June 2024.

Using the learnings from other communities helps ideas move into actions – but it is critical that any initiative to address climate change is placed in a community and rooted in the needs and specificities of that community.

Most projects that achieve meaningful and long-lasting impact have a laser-sharp focus on a tangible outcome. This is easier to achieve with a locally-focused project. A limited geographical scope means fewer physical environmental differences to consider and a focus on stakeholders with local lived experience; arguably the most qualified to collaborate on a project.

A successful project, that prevents climate-changing emissions from being generated or facilitates the adaptation to climate change effects, is also no short-term feat. For projects to achieve long-term success, they must go beyond consulting local communities to being owned by the people they are designed for.

Nossa Horta, for example, is a grassroots movement that brings community gardens into low-income communities in Brazilian cities. While the principles of the project remain consistent, each garden is co-created with the community; creating healthy dialogue and learning opportunities, establishing new food sources and even new forms of income generation.

Working with communities to achieve the outcomes they want catalyzes a project. Even better, the process of collaboration can facilitate productive conflict resolution. Disagreement does not need to derail a project – it can serve to bring new perspectives and approaches into the fold. This is where co-creation comes in.

Through inclusive dialogue that aligns values, objectives and aspirations, it's clear that co-creating a cohesive vision for the future is an act of planning, not imagination. We face diverse social, economic, environmental and health challenges. The skills we need to address them must also be diverse.

A sense of unity is a kind of people-positivity that empowers individuals to engage in constructive dialogue, challenge norms and push for realistic outcomes. In a future plagued with uncertainty, being able to rely on one another is critical to building resilient social structures.

Co-creation must continue throughout the project life-cycle; engaging all stakeholders, including those directly affected, traditionally marginalized and excluded groups. This engagement must be backed with action. Listening is not enough; communities must be given resources, time and skills to fully engage in the process.

Our Manchester, England neighbours at In Our Nature have been doing a stellar job at building a collaborative coalition to tackle climate change at the local level. They've done this through an intentional process of relationship-building and movement-making across a diverse mix of local activists, growing groups and social organizations.

This encourages innovation and creativity and makes it easier to rally behind a shared vision and accelerated action.

Co-creating a vision is a critical part of aligning a project with a community's needs and it helps unite all stakeholders behind a shared mission. To turn ideas into impactful and measurable change that lasts requires a more practical approach.

Policy change, underpinned by public demand, accelerates implementation. Take Singapore’s innovative building design regulations approach. The Green Building Masterplan has a target of greening 80% of Singapore's buildings (by gross floor area) by 2030, requiring developers to replace (or increase) any biodiversity lost in constructing any new building.

Bridging the gap between theory and practice, actionable initiatives are essential for translating ideas into tangible outcomes. Bologna, Italy launched a public-private partnership aimed at financing urban tree planting to combat droughts, extreme temperatures and water scarcity in 2010: the 'Green Areas Inner-City Agreement' (GAIA). Private companies bought credits to offset their emissions, which funded tree planting. In return, these companies received carbon audits, environmental workshops and marketing benefits. This initiative was part of an EU-funded project that brought together researchers with public and private sectors to meet citizens' needs.

Shifting from idea to implementation is pivotal to creating lasting transformation; by ceding power and space to communities we can catalyze this change.

The climate is more than the average of the weather we observe; it’s a key element that makes our Earth livable. The changes we are seeing threaten the incredible luck that aligned in making this world a habitable home for us all.

Despite efforts to privatize the environment, it cannot be divided or boxed neatly. Our planet is a complicated and messy web of interconnected ecosystems, relationships and tipping points. To save it all means starting somewhere; taking intentional local action driven by communities with lived experience and expertise is a meaningful way to kickstart long-lasting action. We do not and can not live in bubbles: connecting, collaborating, co-creating and catalyzing locally-designed climate action is necessary to build inclusive climate change solutions that ensure a fair and just transition for all.

If community co-creation was easy, it would have long been the default approach. In our experience, designing, developing and delivering locally-focused research to assess what our Greater Manchester community knows about climate change and the action it wants seen taken against it, we have ridden the rollercoaster of learning.

Meaningful local engagement is possible with persistence, patience and passion. Once you’ve started, the ripple effects of connection, collaboration and cultivation are quick to spread in unexpected and beautiful ways. The first step is simply starting a conversation.