In June, within the span of two days, I found myself in the seat of the European government and in the capital of an African nation that wants to lead its continent into the future. On the surface, Brussels, home of the European parliament, and Algiers, the capital of quickly growing Algeria, might not have much in common.

Brussels is filled with cobblestone streets, priceless art and history. Algiers has the look of a city that is finding itself. It is filled with cranes, new projects and almost finished buildings. In Brussels, José Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, is dealing with the concerns of EU members over energy security. In Algiers, tankers cannot pull into the port fast enough to export the north African country’s oil. Despite all of this, Brussels and Algiers share a vision of a sustainable energy future.

I visited them both to discuss how we can think differently and move forward at the subnational level – in cities, states and provinces – as we wait for an international agreement from the UN. I was there on behalf of R20, my international organisation – the “R” stands for regions and 20 is the original number of members (today we have more than 500).