UN General Assembly hosts discussion on Sustainable, Healthy Cities Initiative

During the United Nations General Assembly's High-Level Week, the COP29 Presidency hosted a roundtable discussion on the "Multisectoral Action Pathways for Sustainable and Healthy Cities" initiative, Report informs.

The meeting, organized by the COP29 Presidency, UN-Habitat, and ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability, took place in New York as part of the Climate Week.

The event brought together diplomats from UN member states, scientists, civil society representatives, and private sector participants. Yalchin Rafiyev, Deputy Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan and the COP29 Lead negotiator, Anar Guliyev, Chairman of the State Committee on Urban Planning and Architecture of Azerbaijan, Anaclaudia Rossbach, Executive Director of UN-Habitat, and Cecilia Kinuthia-Njenga, director of the Intergovernmental Support and Collective Progress Division of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), delivered comprehensive speeches on the crucial role of cities in combating climate change.

Guliyev stated that the purpose of the meeting was to inform participants about the COP29 Presidency's Multisectoral Action Pathways (MAP) for Climate Resilient and Healthy Cities initiative. He also invited the guests to the 3rd Meeting of Ministers on Urbanization and Climate, scheduled for November 20 during the Urbanization Day at COP29.

The roundtable discussions were divided into two panels. The first panel, themed Multisectoral Climate Action in Cities and the Role of COP29, featured speakers from UNECE, WMO, the Turkish Ministry of Environment, the Mayor of Turku (Finland), and Bloomberg. Megan Ross from Bloomberg announced their support for the high-level meeting on urbanization and climate change during the COP29 Urbanization Day.

The speakers highlighted the innovative nature of the MAP initiative. They noted that it introduces new areas not previously covered by COP initiatives and fosters synergy between these initiatives, the World Urban Forum, and World Environment Day.

The second panel, focused on Developing Partnerships to Accelerate Local Climate Finance, included representatives from the World Bank, CCFLA, IFC, Asian Development Bank, and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. The importance of directing climate finance towards building sustainable and healthy cities was emphasized, and the MAP initiative was recognized as a contributor to increasing global financing in this area.

In the closing remarks, Yunus Arikan, Head of Global Policy and Advocacy, ICLEI World Secretariat, highlighted their role in fighting climate change and the close collaboration with COP29 through the MAP initiative.

Yalchin Rafiyev, in turn, expressed gratitude to the guests and announced the formation of the "Baku Sustainability Coalition for Climate Action in Cities", an outcome of the MAP initiative, which will bring together various COP presidencies and UN-Habitat. He also provided detailed information about the high-level meeting and roundtables on Urbanization and Climate Change to be held on November 20 during the "COP29 Urbanization Day".