Mayors make climate connections in Azerbaijan at COP29

Here's a special feature from the Ag & Water Desk Nov 20 newsletter, shared here on the LWV UMRR blog.  

As world leaders gather in Baku, Azerbaijan for the United Nations climate summit, COP29, mayors from the Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative (MRCTI) made the journey to share their perspectives and foster global connections.   They've been discussing climate and ecological initiatives aimed at securing U.S. trade, protecting food-producing river basins, and cementing the work of mayors as a global example of 'transformational adaptation,' per MRCTI.

Mayors Melisa Logan of Blytheville, Arkansas, and Hollies Winston of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, spoke with Desk reporter Elise Plunk of Louisiana Illuminator via video chat. The following Q&A has been edited for length and clarity.

Desk: What are some impressions from the trip and ideas you can bring back to your cities to implement?
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Mayor Melisa Logan: Here at COP29, they thought the overarching theme would be finance, but actually it's continuity of climate action. One of the sayings throughout the COP has been ‘from ambition to action,’ which means that we're going to move from just talking about it, to boots-on-the-ground and multi-level action on all levels of government. Change is going to happen whether we participate in it or not. 

There are 105 mayors in the Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative, and these 105 mayors are all experiencing climate change. In my area of the country, the Mississippi River has been at its lowest point. We've experienced drought for three years. I'm here to advocate for that most precious commodity that we all share, which is water.

Mayor Hollies Winston: MRCTI is very unique in that they're making the case for the Mississippi. When you meet a mayor in the Amazon Basin of Brazil, you realize the amount of commerce that they deal with, and how important it is not only to that region, to the Amazon and to Brazil, but the entire world. Well, that's not so different than what we're dealing with in the Mississippi, because the Mississippi is also this iconic river, and when it struggles, there are effects across the world. A big thing I'm taking away from this is how do we finance climate solutions so that people at the local level can have a voice, and they can have a say in terms of what some of these solutions look like.

Blytheville, AR, Mayor Melisa Logan and Brooklyn Park, MN, Mayor Hollies Winston in Baku, Azerbaijan at COP29. Image courtesy of MRCTI.

Desk: Specifically, why is it important, and what does it mean to represent your cities and MRCTI at this global conference?

Logan: We just came out of a very heightened political season, and a winner has been declared, and we're soon to go on to the new presidency. We know that billions of dollars were deployed during the Biden administration with the Inflation Reduction Act. And so the world wants to know, how are we going to handle the new climate? Well, our answer through MRCTI been very consistent: We're going to continue to deploy the natural resources, we're going to continue to protect our natural infrastructure, and we're going to continue to do the work. 

Winston: For my city of Brooklyn Park, I think it's important that they understand they're connected to something much bigger, and that they have an important role to play when it comes to climate change. But it also is important that they understand the economic outcomes that could occur if we could go in the wrong direction. From both the national and international perspective, it's important for people to realize that this work is going to continue and not simply for altruistic reasons. 

Logan: We’ve been from Paris to Dubai over the last few COPs, and we have advocated on the global stage for our Mississippi River corridor at six United Nations climate meetings. That's a lot of exposure that would not have happened had MRCTI not been engaged. What that means for the Mississippi, is we're able to tell our story. 

Winston: The story of the Mississippi is important to our country and our world. That story has helped get mayors on board, and that's not easy. You know, mayors are just like herding cats, right? But I think that story is incredibly compelling, and it started not from the top down, but it started from the bottom up. It's a model that we can roll out to others. At a local level, helping people understand what's going on, and then building up to this leadership with mayors, that can really move the ball in a way that maybe we haven't seen with other organizations.

(Disclosure: both the Desk and MRCTI receive funding from the Walton Family Foundation.)