Why was Fort Collins Mayor Jeni Arndt in Dubai for COP28? Here's what she did and who paid

Fort Collins Mayor Jeni Arndt was among the more than 80,000 people who gathered in Dubai this month for the United Nations climate conference COP28.

And then she was back in town just in time to attend Tuesday's City Council meeting.

Arndt was invited to attend a summit within a summit, the first ever Local Climate Action Summit, which was focused on the role of local leaders in climate progress. It was held Dec. 1-2, and she stayed on to attend the Bloomberg Green Summit, returning Dec. 5.

Critics of the mayor attending COP28 said she should be focused on the city and its issues, saying the summit is for national-level political discussion. They also cite the irony of the amount of pollution associated with travel to such an event.

So why are local leaders showing up to a global climate summit?

There's a recognition that local government is where a lot of work gets done, Arndt said.

"Many cities are reducing per capita emissions faster than their national governments," an invitation letter to Arndt from former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and COP28 President Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber said. "With an expected 70% of the global population to live in cities by 2050 and climate-driven natural disasters on the rise, more needs to be done faster to reduce emissions and ensure subnational governments are equipped for population growth and the economic, social, and environmental challenges resulting from a warming planet."

One focus for the local summit was on youth engagement, what role it plays and how to engage them more, Arndt said. Climate finance was another emphasis area. In one session, local leaders discussed their own strategies, lessons learned and barriers, with White House Climate Adviser John Podesta in attendance and taking notes, Arndt said.

Arndt said summits like this and the U7 Mayor Summit in Japan she attended last March provide Fort Collins a link to share its own progress and hear what's happening elsewhere.

When policies are being initiated, those who receive money to carry out those tasks should have a seat at the table, Arndt said, because when grant money goes out, it's cities who use it to do things like insulate buildings, fund low-energy assistance programs and build solar.

Arndt said being at last week's event allowed her to take advantage of a chance for the city to get a $50,000 grant to boost youth engagement. It was made available to mayors in attendance, and she was able to submit an application right there.

Through these events, she said, you meet the person doing the grants, and they offer a chance to help make it happen.

As for her takeaways from COP28, Arndt said it provides perspective on how Fort Collins is doing and confirms "we really are pushing the envelope in ways."

"We're a community that has some of the most aggressive goals," she said. "And there's so much more we can do and committed to."

COP28 showed Arndt how Fort Collins fits into the bigger picture. At the Bloomberg Green Summit, she learned about the idea of a global carbon budget and looking at the whole picture in addition to its parts. For example, Fort Collins can look at what it's doing and feel good about helping the local environment, but when you zoom back, you can see how it fits in with what the U.S. and the world are doing.

In the global climate, you have to work together to solve for issues like less developed nations that are still building coal plants, she said, and work with those nations to reduce how long such a plant operates.

Arndt said she does encounter people at conferences who ask: Why is Fort Collins here? When she shares the city's activities on climate action, she said, then they say: "OK, I get it."

Arndt attended COP28 with Raj Singam Setti, chief transition and integration officer for Platte River Power Authority, which provides power to Fort Collins, Loveland, Longmont and Estes Park and set a goal to be 100% carbon-free by 2030.

Bringing Setti as a technical expert means all four cities can benefit, Arndt said.

The cost of their trip was paid for by C40 Cities Climate Leadership group. C40 is a global network of mayors and cities focused on climate change.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Fort Collins Mayor Jeni Arndt attends United Nations' COP28 in Dubai