By Akanimo Sampson
United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, is calling for a “revolution” in urban planning and urban transport to beat back impacts of climate change and build a green and sustainable future for all.
Addressing the C40 Mayors Climate Alliance, the UN chief highlighted that cities and urban centres are “on the frontlines” of the climate crisis, emitting more than 70 per cent of global greenhouse gases as well as facing risks ranging from rising sea levels to deadly storms.
But cities can also boost climate action, clean energy and sustainable development, through more effective strategies and policies, especially as they recover from the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, he added.
“Investment in recovery is a generational opportunity to put climate action, clean energy and sustainable development at the heart of cities’ strategies and policies”, Guterres said.
“How we design power generation, transport and buildings in cities – how we design the cities themselves – will be decisive in getting on track to achieve the Paris Agreement on climate change and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).” He called for urgent action in three key areas, urging Mayors to work with national leaders to develop and present ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions or NDCs, well before the 26th session of Conference of the Parties (COP26) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), this November in Glasgow.
