In a joint statement, partners working on cities and climate change have laid down the foundations for better-informed city climate action and decision-making, as a result of greater engagement between the policy, practice, and scientific communities working in urban areas.

The document, titled: “The Science We Need for the Cities We Want”, was signed at the recent CitiesIPCC conference hosted by the city of Edmonton, Canada, and brought together some of the world’s leading urban practitioners and researchers.

The Cities & Climate Change Science Conference was co-organised by UN-Habitat, UN Environment, Cities Alliance, C40, ICLEI, Future Earth, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the World Climate Research Programme, the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, and United Cities and Local Governments.

In the closing press conference, Diana Ürge-Vorsatz, Vice-Chair of IPCC Working Group III and one of the co-chairs of the conference’s Scientific Steering Committee highlighted the momentum that substantial partnership engagement has awarded the CitiesIPCC initiative moving forward.

“The unprecedented engagement we have seen over the past three days at the highest levels of leadership from around the globe means that this meeting does not end with our departure from Edmonton. We now travel home with a new responsibility to create modalities of science that open the ivory towers of the academic establishment towards more engaged, accessible and actionable knowledge for cities,” said Ms Ürge-Vorsatz.

Better-informed climate decision-making

The partnership also outlines the importance of this research agenda in achieving our wider development goals.

“The milestone CitiesIPCC Cities and Climate Change Science Conference, held in Edmonton, Canada, March 5-7, created enhanced understanding of the impacts of climate change at the urban level, the range of possible responses, and the role of cities in the implementation of the Paris Agreement and other international global agendas,” reads the partnership agreement, endorsed by UN-Habitat and its partners.

“It has laid a foundation for better-informed climate decision-making at the local level as a result of greater engagement between the policy, practice, and scientific communities working on/in urban areas.”

“The main outcome of the Conference is the definition of a global research agenda on cities and climate change that advances climate change science and gives recognition and visibility to the knowledge generated by urban actors.”

In the next few decades the world will produce the same amount of urban space that we have built over the last 2000 years. According to UN-Habitat we will need a transformative approach to planning this space in order to ensure it has a positive impact on our ability to fight climate change.

A truly integrated approach

The fastest urbanisation is happening in the global south, not just in the big cities but mostly in secondary cities, in places with limited capacity and where access to livelihoods and basic services are the daily priority.

In one of the liveliest sessions of the conference, “Informal Settlements and Economies: Means for Transformative Climate Action”, Participants raised questions on incremental mainstreaming, rather than marginalising informal settlements; planning as an instrument of power, because of the implications of planning for various communities; and social mobilisation for confrontation and collaboration.

In addition, cities account for over 70 per cent of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions and are vulnerable hotspots for the impacts of climate change.

“There is no doubt, taking into account the scale, the complexity, the interconnectedness of the issues and the urgency that we collectively need to turn from inward looking actors to outworking looking actors, maximising the added value of what we offer to a truly integrated approach, connecting science, with policy and practice,” said Filiep Decorte, speaking at the conference.

UN-Habitat’s work in this field already explores the nexus between research and practice in this important field. At COP23, UN-Habitat launched Planners for Climate Action, an initiative that brings together associations of urban planning practitioners globally to coordinate and share best practice on climate change planning.

The Planning for Climate Change Guide, launched in 2014, already has over 40,000 downloads; testimony to the fact that planners are trying to absorb how they can plan better to reduce emissions and help guide people from building in harm’s way.

Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), Maimunah Mohd Sharif, has pledged to strengthen the agency to make it more responsive to the needs of countries to address the challenges of rapid urbanisation and harness the benefits of good urbanisation.

At her maiden press conference held in Nairobi, Kenya on Thursday, March 29, 2018, Ms. Sharif highlighted that she would be guided by the principles of the New Urban Agenda and its implementation as an accelerator for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially SDG11 which aims to make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.

“In 2016, Member states adopted the New Urban Agenda which promotes a new paradigm on the way we plan, build and manage our cities and human settlements. UN-Habitat was recognised as a United Nations focal point for sustainable urbanisation. It is the moment to strengthen UN-Habitat to ensure we can effectively support countries to implement the New Urban Agenda in collaboration with all the United Nations system, all levels of government and other stakeholders.

Cities are centres of economic growth, contributing 70% of global GDP. Urbanisation, if well-planned, can be an important tool to achieve a good quality of life for everyone and can help us to achieve the sustainable development goals, in particular SDG11, and other SDGs such as SDG1: no poverty, SDG6: clean water and sanitation, SDG13: climate action, to mention just a few,” she said.

“I was the mayor in Penang in Malaysia and was the first woman to be appointed president of the Municipal Council of Seberang Perai. All my professional life, I have collaborated very well with journalists in delivering services to my employers – the people. Media is needed to increase awareness on urban issues which affect us every day such as basic services, mobility, public spaces or accessibility,” she said.

Ms. Sharif explained that, together with its sister agency UNEP, UN-Habitat was the only other UN agency headquartered in the developing world. She said that since its inception in 1976, UN-Habitat has stayed true to its course in addressing urbanisation and human settlements issues.

“We must look at human settlements of all sizes and think about how to improve the quality of life of those citizens living there. Many people migrate from rural areas seeking better opportunities in cities. If these people had adequate infrastructure and services in their communities, such as housing, good roads, education as well as economic opportunities, they might not leave their rural settings easily,” she said.

“As a focal point for human settlements and sustainable urban development in the UN system, UN-Habitat catalyses transformative change in cities and human settlements. We combine knowledge, policy advice, technical assistance, and collaborative action to support governments at all levels and stakeholders to ensure the well-being and dignity of all people living in cities and human settlements, be it in contexts of stability, crisis or post-crisis and recovery.”

She also announced UN-Habitat’s plans to maintain its excellent relations with Kenya, the host country, citing the government’s stated Agenda Four which has Housing as one of its key pillars. She has established a task force, led by UN-Habitat’s Director for Africa, to support more strategic and integrated programming in Kenya in line with the Government’s vision and to scale-up the good experiences in close collaboration with the UN Country Team and other strategic partners.

Affordable Housing is one of UN-Habitat’s priorities and specialisations. “As I have committed to the Cabinet Secretary of Foreign Affairs Monica Juma and the Cabinet Secretary of Infrastructure James Macharia, UN-Habitat is ready to offer its expertise to support the government to achieve its objective of providing some one million houses. We are more than ready to extend our knowledge and our tried and tested innovative solutions to the government of Kenya in its endeavours,” Ms. Sharif said.

The Executive Director highlighted some of the current linkages with Kenya as including: the establishment of a Long-term Solid Waste Management Strategy that Incorporates Youth Entrepreneurship through waste recycling in Kisii Town; Strengthening Planning for Resettlement and Integration of Refugee Communities at Kalobeyei New Site, Turkana County. Under this there was Peace and social cohesion, community resilience, humanitarian/ development nexus, as well as Land Tools to Support Tenure Security Enhancement in Informal Settlements in Nairobi and Mombasa.