The Foreign Service Journal, January-February 2022

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2022 29 At the local level, we are demonstrating our ability to decisively act and develop measures to combat climate change. We also need to ensure that we are not leaving behind workers in legacy industries or those in smaller cities and rural areas. The connections our Foreign Service has to foreign business entities can unlock new partnerships in regions that have been neglected or underutilized. A Rare Opportunity A growing number of scholars, think tanks and legislators are realizing the need for improved transnational relations between local governments and foreign entities. At the local level, we are demonstrating our ability to decisively act and developmeasures to combat climate change. We need to have better tools at the local level to work with global partners who share similar concerns, and passage of the City and State Diplomacy Act would enable that. The people we serve as leaders of local governments are our greatest resource to enable the inclusive and equitable social shift we must make. Residents, local businesses and, especially, those community members most vulnerable to climate change must have a voice in the process and be part of the solution. Enabling Foreign Service officers to be on the ground learning and interact- ing in our local communities throughout the United States will help local governments develop their global ties and allowmayors and governors to strengthen U.S. alliances through partnerships and cooperation. As a progressive local leader in a historically conservative region of the United States, I’ve experiencedmy own share of chal- lenges convincing my local and regional peers tomove forward on climate change and sustainability. That tide is shifting. We now have a rare opportunity in which global, national and local momentum are aligning to overcome what is arguably the greatest existential threat to humankind. We must work collectively to har- ness this energy for the benefit of all Americans. n