Local COP21 in Rouen COP21 locale de Rouen

The Rouen metropolis’ local COP21 took place in 2018 to translate the Paris Agreement’s objectives to the local level. Supported by the NGO WWF and the French ecological agency (ADEME), the objective of the local COP21 was to foster local climate commitments from all stakeholders, such as municipalities, citizens, companies, administrations, and NGOs. Rouen metropolis is a group of 71 municipalities (the largest city of which is Rouen) that have close to 500,000 inhabitants, situated in the region of Normandie in the North of France. France enshrined the Paris Agreement into law in 2016 and designated regions as leaders of the “territorial” (local) decarbonization strategy, while large urban areas (“métropoles”) were put in charge of local coordination of the transition. The local COP21 included a “COP21 workshop” that was open six days a week in the city centre to inform citizens about the climate challenge, a COP21 label to add visibility to local events, a digital platform and a call for citizens’ projects funded by participative financing.