Cities around the world share many challenges. To address them, they need to develop science diplomacy

States should be more aware of how cities and local governments can help them carry out their diplomatic and scientific strategies. In major global discussions, city-level governments are often the ones who can transform commitments into concrete action. A good example is the actions taken by the City of Montréal to support biodiversity at the recent COP15 conference, as well as Mayor Valérie Plante’s call to other cities around the world to commit to the Montréal Pledge. The aim is for cities to implement 15 tangible actions towards pursuing and accelerating their efforts to preserve ecosystems. This type of action demonstrates the key role that governors and mayors can play in activating the “from global to local and from local to global” lever. In the United States, the White House created the Department of State’s Subnational Diplomacy Unit to make sure the voices of local governments would be heard at the international level, and that their views be taken into account in U.S. foreign policy. In Québec, a number of programs are available to facilitate diplomatic initiatives of cities, such as the one offered by the ministère des Relations internationales et de la Francophonie. It is a first call for...