COP29: Community-led Climate Adaptation and Action in Informal Settlements

Cities Alliance, Slum Dwellers International, and IIED, co-host an online session at COP29 on 'Community-led Climate Adaptation and Action in Informal Settlements'- 17:00-18:00 (Baku time UTC+4)

This event will showcase how urban poor communities are being empowered to face climate-related risks and drive climate resilience and adaptation strategies that can be replicated and scaled in cities globally.

Cities Alliance, in partnership with Slum Dwellers International (SDI) and with financial support from Sida, is supporting SDI federations across 16 countries to promote community-led urban development interventions that have been identified and prioritised by slum dweller federations through the Building Resilience in Informal Settlements Programme. 

This multi-phase initiative is positioning organised urban poor communities as central to supporting long-term sustainable development initiatives. SDI federations are developing community resilience to the shocks and stresses, both chronic and acute, of urban informal living. These include the ongoing effects of climate change and climate-related risks slum dwellers face daily. 

Building on the initial phase of the programme, the federations are moving boldly into areas such as improved climate change adaptation, mitigation, nature-based solutions as well as action plans in both informal settlements and cities.

In the session, Cities Alliance, SDI, and IIED will share experiences of locally-led climate adaptation and sustainable construction initiatives featured at a recent peer learning exchange with SDI federations from Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, which were part of the programme. 

It will be an opportunity to hear directly from organised urban poor communities and their partners about how climate change is impacting informal settlements, risks they face, and practical solutions for scalable, community-led climate action and adaptation initiatives. 

The discussion will explore opportunities and barriers for replicating and upscaling such initiatives as well as cross-cutting themes, including gender and youth-led media and advocacy.

It will also underline the need for strengthened international cooperation and partnerships regarding the climate targets, emphasising the potential of locally-led action and the need for increased financial, technical, and capacity building support. 

Moderator: Mara Forbes, Urban Development Specialist, Cities Alliance 

Speakers: 

• Julie Greenwalt, Senior Climate Advisor, Cities Alliance 
• Marcelle Mardon, Researcher, Urban Poverty and Informality, IIED
• Richard Bokerie, Centre of Dialogue on Human Settlement and Poverty Alleviation (CODOHSAPA) / Federation of the Urban and Rural Poor (FEDURP) Sierra Leone
• Francis Mawenjje and Sarah Nambozo, ACTogether Uganda / National Slum Dwellers Federation of Uganda (NSDFU)
• Melanie Chirwa, People's Process of Housing and Poverty in Zambia (PPHPZ) / Zambia Homeless and Poor People's Federation (ZHPPF)

Online event. Register here.