The Summit for Subnational Governments and Cities, also referred to as the City Biodiversity Summit, is the high-level convening of local and subnational governments at the biodiversity COP. It is co-hosted by ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, through its Cities Biodiversity Center, together with the CBD Secretariat, the COP host city and country, Regions4 and other partners.
Held as an official parallel event at each biodiversity COP since 2008, the Summit gives governors, mayors and subnational leaders a platform to engage directly with national delegations, showcase territorial-scale biodiversity action, and feed outcomes into the negotiations. Since the first Summit, at least one official COP decision dedicated to local and subnational governments has emerged from each Summit's negotiations.
The next Summit
9th Summit for Subnational Governments and Cities — 24 October 2026, Yerevan, Armenia. Held in the COP 17 Blue Zone and co-hosted by ICLEI, Regions4, the CBD Secretariat and the City of Yerevan. See the programme and participation details.
Previous Summits
1st · Bonn, 2008 (COP 9). Bonn Call for Action.
2nd · Nagoya, 2010 (COP 10). Aichi/Nagoya Declaration on Local Authorities and Biodiversity; accompanied the adoption of Decision X/22.
3rd · Hyderabad, 2012 (COP 11). Held as the Cities for Life Summit; Hyderabad Declaration on Subnational Governments, Cities and Local Authorities for Biodiversity; launch of the first Cities and Biodiversity Outlook.
4th · Pyeongchang, 2014 (COP 12). Gangwon/Pyeongchang Resolution for Cities and Subnational Governments for Biodiversity.
5th · Cancún, 2016 (COP 13). Quintana Roo Communiqué on Mainstreaming Local and Subnational Biodiversity Action; over 700 participants from 73 countries.
6th · Sharm El-Sheikh, 2018 (COP 14). Sharm El-Sheikh Communiqué for Local and Subnational Action for Nature and People; over 380 delegates from 46 countries.
7th · Montréal, 2022 (COP 15). Accompanied the adoption of the current Plan of Action and Decision 15/12; first dedicated Subnational Governments and Cities Pavilion.
8th · Cali, 2024 (COP 16). Co-hosted by ICLEI and Regions4.
For the full Summit series archive, visit the ICLEI Cities Biodiversity Center.
