Article Open access npj Climate Action 3 , Article number: 118 (2024) Cite this article Metrics Abstract As the global reckoning with a changing climate increases in urgency, and the real-world consequences of delayed and inadequate action become impossible to ignore, city leadership continues to grow in response. Cities are making significant shifts in policy and regulation, investing in infrastructure, building strong cross-sectoral collaborations, experimenting with solutions, advocating for changes outside their jurisdiction, and taking other important actions. Alongside these activities is a growing critique that climate action is not adequately integrating principles and goals of justice, equity, inclusion, or decoloniality. In this article we argue that transformative learning is an underutilized theory and practice when working toward city-based just climate action. We describe transformative learning approaches and implications in running a Climate Justice Field School in Vancouver, Canada, a response to implementing the first ever Climate Justice Charter for the city. This work resulted in five transformative learning interventions for urban climate researchers and practitioners to engage with as they move toward just, equitable, inclusive, decolonial climate action. Introduction The most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report describes the vital role of sub-state actors in climate action, and cities and urban coalitions are stepping up to this challenge in great numbers 1 . City leadership is rapidly growing and organizing into movements for collective action and advocacy, with Mayors making strong commitments and calls to action related to climate. Civil servants and community collaborators are delivering ambitious adaptation and mitigation plans, policies, and regulations and are building and retrofitting infrastructure and delivering new programs and services. Alongside this surge in urban climate work are growing calls for justice from leaders representing countries and communities that are being most impacted by climate change, and are least responsible for […]