The Women Assembly brought together grassroot women, gender champions, representatives from civil society, academia, international organisations and UN agencies to discuss the empowerment of women, gender equality and the New Urban Agenda.

The daylong event that held a week ago at Habitat III in Quito, Ecuador was organised by the Huairou Commission in collaboration with UN Women and UN-Habitat and addressed opportunities for empowerment of women and increased gender equality through the New Urban Agenda. As the only male speaker during the day, Joan Clos, Executive Director of UN-Habitat, encouraged the participants to implement the New Urban Agenda around the world: “We have still not achieved true gender equality on any front, in any city. We still have work to do.

Jan Peterson, Chair of Huairou Commission, emphasised: “Women’s Rights are about implementation on the ground, in our cities.”

Linking the New Urban Agenda with the Agenda 2030, Lakshmi Puri, Deputy Executive Director of UN Women, brought attention to the inclusion of transformative change regarding gender relations, sexual and reproductive rights and the elimination of violence against women as important issues in the New Urban Agenda. Now the implementation must make sure no one is left behind.

In the afternoon, nine breakout sessions discussed diverse issues such as safer cities, land and property rights, resilience and climate change, post conflict and migration, rural-urban linkages, political participation, economic empowerment and urban planning. Some of the recommendations from the participants include:

• Women and girls are essential agents of change to create safe cities free of violence against women and girls.
• The right to adequate housing should be incorporated into national laws.
• Advocacy for equal rights of women and men in land and housing ownership.
• Promotion of women’s rights to the city.
• Decentralisation with local participation that include women.
• Women are key in building back a better society after conflict and to avoid resurfacing of conflict.

Aisa Kirabo Kacyira, Deputy Executive Director of UN-Habitat, assured the participants in the Women Assembly that UN-Habitat is committed to work for increased gender equality and encouraged everyone to look towards the future. What change do we want to see in the next 20 years, before Habitat IV?

She stated: “Teamwork and leadership are needed to implement the New Urban Agenda as a people led process to achieve change.”

Ana Falu, co-chair of the Advisory Group on Gender Issues to UN-Habitat, encourage the participants to continue during Habitat III to engender the New Urban Agenda.

Towards the closing of the event, Pamela Ransom, a participant, exclaimed: “I have never seen such a diverse group of powerful women together in one room as in this Women’s Assembly!”

Algeria and Uruguay have deposited their instruments of ratification of the Paris Agreement with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Both nations made the deposition on Friday, 21 October 2016.

It brings the number of Parties that have ratified the Paris Agreement at 83 States – Uruguay was 82nd while Algeria was 83rd – out of 197 Parties to the Convention.

On 5 October 2016, the threshold for entry into force of the Paris Agreement was achieved. The Paris Agreement will enter into force on 4 November 2016. The first session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement (CMA1) will take place in Marrakech in conjunction with COP22 (22nd Session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC) and CMP12 (12th Session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol).

According to the UNFCCC, only Parties to the Agreement with valid credentials will be able to participate in the adoption of decisions at CMA1.

At the 21st Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP21), held last December in Paris, France, the Parties adopted the Paris Climate Change Agreement under the UNFCCC.

The Agreement was opened for signature on 22 April 2016 at a high-level signature ceremony convened by the Secretary General in New York. At that ceremony, 174 States and the European Union signed the agreement and 15 States also deposited their instruments of ratification.

The Paris Agreement builds upon the Convention and – for the first time – brings all nations into a common cause to undertake take ambitious efforts to combat climate change and adapt to its effects, with enhanced support to assist developing countries to do so. As such, it charts a new course in the global climate effort.

The Paris Agreement’s central aim is to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping a global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Additionally, the agreement aims to strengthen the ability of countries to deal with the impacts of climate change.

To reach these ambitious goals, appropriate financial flows, a new technology framework and an enhanced capacity building framework will be put in place, thus supporting action by developing countries and the most vulnerable countries, in line with their own national objectives. The Agreement also provides for enhanced transparency of action and support through a more robust transparency framework.

President Muhammadu Buhari promised in New York that Nigeria would deposit its instruments of ratification with the UN before COP22 scheduled to hold in Marrakech, Morocco in November.

At two separate forums held recently – a presentation at the Faculty of Economics and Business of the University of Oviedo in Spain, and an acceptance speech delivered while receiving the 2016 Princess of Asturias Award for International Cooperation at a ceremony presided by Their Majesties the King and Queen of Spain – Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Patricia Espinosa, described the Paris Agreement as a powerful signal of hope for a world where conflicts, humanitarian crisis and pessimism about economic prospects persist. She also lists the features of the climate pact. Excerpts:

Your majesties King Felipe and Queen Letizia, today is a special day that invites us to pause and reflect about the present and the future. And my reflection today about the Paris Agreement, the path towards its adoption and the next steps, bring me hope.

Indeed, the Paris Agreement is our gift of hope. If I may, today I would like to share this gift with Her Highness the Princess of Asturias, Doña Leonor, who will soon celebrate her 11^th birthday, and with all the children of the world. Today, we have in our hands the tools to work together and build not only a better future, but also a safe and sustainable present for our children and the children of all.

The Paris Agreement is a powerful signal of hope for a world where conflicts, humanitarian crisis and pessimism about economic prospects persist. The spirit of solidarity and political will to preserve our planet has continued this year.

Indeed, last week in Kigali, governments agreed to phase down HFCs, the powerful greenhouse gasses used for refrigeration and air conditioning. And just some days before, an international agreement to reduce emissions from international aviation was reached.

And of course, the ratification of the Paris Agreement in a record-breaking time allows its entry into force before the climate change conference in Marrakech in November.

The Paris Agreement is truly an agenda to transform our model of growth and development. Today, I would like to share with you some reflections about the importance of this agreement for all people in the world.

I would like to underline three characteristics of Paris Agreement.

The first one is the long-term goal in the agreement. In Paris, governments committed to limit warming to less than 2 degrees Celsius, and as close to 1.5 degrees C as possible. They also included a goal of climate neutrality in the middle of the century. This means by that time, human emissions – from electricity generation, from transportation, from manufacturing, from agriculture, and from deforestation and our management of natural resources – can be absorbed by nature.

The difference between 1.5 degrees and 2 degrees of warming may seem an insignificant goal considering that we experience much larger temperature variations every day. But when applied at a planetary scale, the impacts from a half a degree of warming are very significant.

From increased heat waves and sea level rise to reduced water availability and crop yield, every half a degree of warming implies much more devastating impacts and natural catastrophes than those we already face. In fact, the difference between 1.5 and 2 degrees may be the existence of some small island states.

For example, this temperature rise would cause the loss of two thirds of habitable land in the Seychelles. Also, limiting atmospheric warming as close as possible to 1.5 degrees would reduce negative impacts on 44 low-lying islands and coastal countries. In Spain, two degrees of warming would imply long droughts and longer heat waves, both phenomena would impact public health, food security and the economy.

The second characteristic that makes the Paris Agreement extraordinary is its universality. For the first time, all countries recognize their responsibility in fighting climate change. Without any doubt, the Paris Agreement sets obligations for developed and developing countries that must be fulfilled, and all of them without any exception recognize they must make efforts in this fight.

This was clear through the 190 plans that countries submitted before Paris, containing their intended contributions per their capacities and the challenges they face at the national level.

This means that today, in every corner of this planet, a commitment exists to reduce and avoid carbon emissions. This signifies a promise of hope for a future environment that allows stable growth for all.

Just months after submitting their initial contributions, some countries have even reviewing them to reinforce their goals. Numerous examples prove that climate action is not in contradiction with economic growth. On the contrary, many actions against climate change help achieve economic and social growth.

The third amazing characteristic of the Paris Agreement is its recognition of the role non-State actors have in the necessary, deep transformation – private sector, subnational and local governments, artists, scientists and many civil society groups and, in the end, each person.

It is a document negotiated and adopted by governments, but governments alone can’t fulfil the commitments it includes.

Increasing numbers of cities are moving to cleaner energy, reporting their emissions and investing in resilient infrastructure. Businesses are turning to efficient operations, sustainable supply chains and low-emission products. Investors are more and more looking to renewable energy, green bonds and assets that report their climate footprint to ensure stable, long-term returns.

I invite everyone to go to our NAZCA online climate action zone that documents this amazing dynamic of climate mobilisation.

This dynamic seeks to improve people’s wellbeing. Building resilient communities will protect lives, improve health, contribute to food security and fight poverty. In the end, it provides stability.

The Paris Agreement together with the Sustainable Development Goals also adopted last year are the pillars of a new model for development where climate and sustainability considerations are cornerstones that protect our common house and create opportunities for all.

The Paris Agreement is more than an agreement among States, it is an agenda for transforming the future of our planet and for future generations. Every person must be part of this great transformation.

Today, I invite you to examine your lives and your futures. And I ask you to determine how you can help accelerate this transformation.

By acting on climate change today, we will protect the progress our parents achieved. We will secure a better future for ourselves and we will transform growth and development for the good of generations to come. We must find the way of transforming our communities’ ways of life and making our consumer choices more climate friendly.

Together, we can be the force for good we see so clearly in the transformative Paris Agreement.

The Pre-COP Ministerial Meeting in Marrakech came to a close on Thursday after two days of closed-door plenary sessions on final preparations for the 22nd Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP22), the 12th Session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP12), and the 1st Session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement (CMA1) to take place in Marrakech, November 7 to 18.

Chaired by Salahdeddine Mezouar, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Morocco and COP22 President; Segolene Royal, Minister of Environment of France and COP21 President; and Patricia Espinosa, UNFCCC Executive Secretary, the Pre-COP assembled delegations from more than 70 countries to achieve a common understanding of the state of negotiations ahead of COP22. The main areas of discussion covered the early entry into force of the Paris Agreement scheduled for November 4 and the holding of the first meeting of the Parties to the Agreement (CMA1) on November 15 during COP22.  The joint high-level segment of the COP, CMP and CMA would be convened immediately after the CMA1 opening, where all Parties will make their national statements.

The presence of His Majesty King Mohammed VI of Morocco, the UN Secretary-General and Heads of State and Government on that occasion will amplify the historic significance of the moment.

In addition, participants addressed the implementation of the Paris Agreement, the development of its rulebook, finance for climate adaptation and mitigation in developing countries including a $100-billion-dollar-per-year roadmap proposal made by donor countries for climate finance by 2020, the issue of Loss and Damage as per the Warsaw Mechanism, capacity-building initiatives such as the Paris Committee on Capacity Building, the Capacity Building Initiative for Transparency and the NDC Partnership to strengthen and help countries implement their Nationally Determined Contributions(NFCs) to the global response to climate change. COP22 will include the Marrakech Call to Action, to be made during the high-level segment featuring Heads of State and Government on November 15.

The plenary sessions were rounded out by a discussion on the Global Climate Action Agenda led by the Moroccan and French High-Level Climate Champions, Hakima El Haite and Laurence Tubiana.

A series of thematic days (agriculture & food security, cities, energy, forests, business, oceans, transport, water, gender) focusing on accelerating and mobilising climate action by non-state Party actors including businesses, cities, sub-national governments and NGOs, will be held during COP22 with Gender Day on November 15, the Women’s Leader Summit, November 16 and the High-Level event on November 17 featuring the presentation of the Global Climate Action Agenda report.  The Moroccan Presidency intends to take stock during the conference with civil society and chart a common climate agenda.

Participants at the Pre-COP Ministerial meeting will return to the Ochre City in less than three weeks for COP22, November 7 to 18.

The United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development, known as Habitat III, was on Thursday wrapped up in Quito, Ecuador, with delegations adopting a new framework that will set the world on a course towards sustainable urban development by rethinking how cities are planned, managed and inhabited.

“We have analysed and discussed the challenges that our cities are facing and have (agreed) on a common roadmap for the 20 years to come,” Joan Clos, the Executive Director of the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), told the closing plenary of the conference, which has drawn around 36,000 people from 167 different countries to the lush equatorial capital of Quito for the past six days.

He said that the action-oriented outcome document, known as the New Urban Agenda, enshrined now in the “Quito Declaration on Sustainable Cities and Human Settlements for All,” should be seen as an extension of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, agreed by 193 Member States of the UN in September 2015.

That Agenda’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) recognised the power of cities and towns, which will constitute up to 70 per cent of the world population by 2050, to be the engine for sustainable growth in the future.

Habitat III, major conference on the future of the world’s cities and towns, brought together mayors, local and regional authorities, civil society and community groups, and urban planners. Mayors said the conference advanced the participation of local authorities in the global effort to achieve the SDGs.

Dennis Codere, Mayor of Montreal, said: “We know that without the involvement of cities and local governments, the world will not be able to address the global challenges of our times.

‘New Urban Agenda’ for green, clean, inclusive cities

“The New Urban Agenda is an ambitious agenda which aims at paving the way towards making cities and human settlements more inclusive,” said Mr. Clos, who also served as the Secretary-General of the Conference, adding that it would ensure “everyone can benefit from urbanisation, paying particular attention to those in those in vulnerable situations.”

The Agenda stresses that tackling air pollution in cities is good both for people’s health and for the planet and through it, leaders have committed to increase their use of renewable energy, provide better and greener public transport, and sustainably manage their natural resources. The Agenda’s ‘shared vision’ aims to create conditions for communities and policy makers to create that are engines of sustained and inclusive economic growth, social and cultural development, and environmental protection.

Among the key provisions are a call for equal opportunities for all; an end to discrimination; cleaner cities; strengthening resilience and reducing carbon emissions; fully respecting the rights of migrants and refugees regardless of their status; improving connectivity and green initiatives, and promoting “safe accessible and green public spaces.”

Above all, he said, it was a “commitment that we will all together take the responsibility of one another and the direction of the development of our common urbanising world.”

The agenda does not bind Member States or city governments to specific targets or goals, but is rather a “shared vision” that set standards for transforming urban areas into safer, resilient and more sustainable places, based on better planning and development.

In signing onto the declaration, UN Member States are committing to action over the next 20 years, to improve all areas of urban life through the Quito Implementation Plan, in support of the outcomes of Habitat III and the New Urban Agenda.

Mr. Clos reminded the world gathering of national leaders; Mayors, civil society representatives; non-governmental organisations (NGOs), urban development experts, and other stakeholders that “we must act for these commitments.”

In an interview with the UN News Service to mark the end of Habitat III, Mr. Clos said the hard work of making the New Urban Agenda a reality needs to begin immediately. “If we don’t implement, it’s going to be useless,” he stressed.

The conference had helped establish “who needs to do what. This is the real question (…) What the conference is saying is there’s a need to walk back to the fundamentals of urbanisation,” he added.

“I encourage national, sub-national and local governments to use the New Urban Agenda as a key instrument for planning and policy development for sustainable urbanisation,” he said, in his remarks during the closing plenary, adding that national reports were already being sent to the Habitat III Secretariat, prepared by governments, “some of which have been delivered to us at this conference.”

The Quito Declaration lays out steps for action, and for government accountability to try and ensure that the New Urban Agenda becomes a reality.

An “evidence-based and independent assessment” of UN-Habitat is due to take place next year under the auspices of the UN Secretary-General, and a two-day High Level Meeting of the General Assembly is being convened by assembly President, Peter Thomson, to discuss effective implementation.