9th Summit for Subnational Governments & Cities
COP 17 Blue Zone - Yerevan, Armenia
24 October 2026
The 9th Summit for Subnational Governments and Cities will gather Governors, Mayors and other subnational government leaders from around the world to engage directly with national governments, UN agencies, financial institutions and key stakeholders during the seventeenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP17). Held as an official parallel event and co-organized by ICLEI through its Cities Biodiversity Center (CBC), Regions4, the CBD Secretariat and the City of Yerevan as COP17 host city, the Summit will continue the long-standing tradition of elevating the vital role that local and subnational authorities play in advancing global biodiversity outcomes.
As Parties take stock of collective progress under the global review, the Summit will serve as a key platform for showcasing leadership, commitments and implementation actions at the territorial level, and for demonstrating how cities and regions are closing the implementation gap of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) and advancing the Plan of Action on Subnational Governments, Cities and Other Local Authorities for Biodiversity (Decision 15/12). Dialogues will address synergies across the three Rio Conventions and the finance, capacity and monitoring systems that local and subnational governments need to deliver on the 2030 targets, strengthening whole-of-government and whole-of-society approaches to implementation.
Tentative Programmme
(Check back regularly for Programme updates)
Armenia Time (AMT) | Session | Speaker |
08.00 | Doors open – registration | |
09.00 - 10.00 | Opening segment | MC: Kobie Brand, ICLEI |
| Opening remarks |
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| Exchange of batons between COP host cities (Cali → Yerevan) |
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| Keynote: linkages with other agendas and the role of cities and territories | Inger Andersen, UNEP (TBC) |
10.00 - 10.05 | Group photo | |
10.05 - 10.30 | Messages of support | Moderator: Kobie Brand, ICLEI |
| Short (2-min) messages from the Global Taskforce of Local and Regional Governments and other assemblies |
|
10.30 - 12.00 | Dialogue 1 | Moderator: Jean Lemire, Quebec |
10.30 - 11.15 | Part 1 – Connecting agendas: Global leadership and the road to 2030 UN agencies and international organizations on progress, the global review and coherence across the Rio Conventions. |
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11.15 - 12.00 | Part 2 – Mainstreaming nature: Local and subnational leadership driving global change Leaders from all levels of government on integrated biodiversity, climate and land restoration action on the ground. | Moderator: Emilia Saiz, UCLG Provocation: Nina Hachigian, USA (TBC)
|
| Short cultural event | TBD |
12.00 - 13.00 | Lunch break | |
| Short video | |
13.00 - 14.30 | Dialogue 2 |
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| Part 1 – Financing solutions: Mobilising finance and enabling action Development banks, donors and philanthropies on unlocking investment for nature at the local and subnational level. | Moderator: TBD Provocation: Wade Crowfoot, California
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| Part 2 – Delivering impact: Accelerating implementation on the ground Local and subnational governments on accessing finance, building capacity and monitoring progress to scale action to 2030. | Moderator: Wade Crowfoot, California Provocation: Governor of Ulaanbaatar (TBC)
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14.30 - 15.30 | Celebrating action | MC: Togo Uchida |
| Biodiversity Charming City Awards – Chinese cities | TBD |
| New CitiesWithNature and RegionsWithNature members | TBD |
| Launch of the GEF-8 Sustainable Cities Integrated Program | TBD |
| Aboris launch (4 min) | Regions4 – TBD |
| Quebec contribution to the GBFF fund (5 min) | Jean Lemire, Quebec |
15.30 - 16.00 | Closing segment | MCs: Kobie Brand, ICLEI; Jean Lemire, Quebec |
| Closing remarks |
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16.00 - 16.10 | Group photo of all Summit delegates | |
| Cultural event | |
18.00 - 20.00 | Reception | Hosted by the Mayor of Yerevan |