Convening Town Hall COPs across Sub-Saharan Africa

The report captures the outcomes of the Town Hall COPs hosted in 2025 by numerous Sub-Saharan African cities. Town Hall COPs are a pioneering initiative inspired by the structure of the UN Climate Change Conferences. Town Hall COPs provide locally driven platforms for co-creating solutions across all tiers of government and segments of society, to inform inclusive Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

Readers will find the key insights from 18 Town Hall COPs convened across six Sub-Saharan African countries – the most of any region – generating actionable lessons:

1. Collaboration with city networks, national government, and local government associations drives multilevel governance. In South Africa, where the national government has formally endorsed the Town Hall COP model, 9 deeply meaningful Town Hall COPs established a direct pathway between local and national governments for NDC implementation and feedback, a world first.
2. African cities’ number one priority is waste. ICLEI Africa’s new report reimagines waste management, showcasing the potential of modular, decentralised systems that cities can test and scale.
3. Systems thinking is essential. Across all Town Halls, cities stressed the interlinkages between livelihoods, renewable energy, and nature-based solutions, as well as the need to manage trade-offs wisely.
4. Youth and community voices matter; their energy and wisdom are vital. Town Hall COPs provide a critical platform for these voices to be heard and their wisdom to be benefited from.

The report also highlights the importance of national endorsement of Town Hall COPs. In South Africa, this was received from the country’s Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE), leading to 9 Town Hall COPs in South Africa, and ensuring that these Town Hall COPs have a tangible influence on nationally led processes. The South Africa Town Hall COPs were led by the South African Local Governments Association (SALGA), in partnership with ICLEI Africa, and both organisations are working on a Roadmap to COP27, to take these Town Hall COPs to the next level, in the lead up to the COP to be hosted on African soil.