Just a few weeks after Habitat III concludes in Quito, Cities Alliance will be participating in the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties (COP) 22 in Marrakesh.
At the event, the Cities Alliance Joint Work Programme on Resilient Cities will partner with ICLEI, C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, the Compact of Mayors, the World Bank, WIEGO and many other organisations to highlight the need for cities and communities to be central to implementing the Paris Agreement. This will culminate in our support to a dedicated ‘Action Day for Cities’ being designated by the Moroccan Presidency on 10 November.
Cities Alliance will also announce a new partnership with the C40 to build climate resilience in 8 cities in Africa, Asia and Latin America through evidence-based scenario planning, target setting and climate action planning. The partnership will present the re-booted ‘Climate action for URBan sustainability’ (CURB) tool, which was developed by AECOM and managed by the World Bank and C40. CURB is an interactive planning tool designed to help cities take action on climate change by mapping out different action plans and evaluating their cost, financial feasibility, and impact.
Why is COP22 important for Cities Alliance?
The Paris Agreement reached at COP21 last year committed countries to reducing global temperature rise to less than 2 degrees Celsius.
Less than one year later, the U.S., China, Canada, the EU and a total of 73 nations representing nearly 57% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions have all ratified the agreement, meeting the conditions for the Paris Agreement to enter into force just days before the UNFCCC COP22 is convened in Marrakesh.
Capitalising on this momentum, countries at COP22 will be focused on the means of implementation and action to ensure the emissions reduction targets are met. Climate actions at the national and local level that also have a critical role to play in contributing to the broader Agenda 2030, the Sustainable Development Goals and the New Urban Agenda.
Cities around the world are taking steps to reduce carbon emissions, enhance growth and build resiliency on the path to sustainable and inclusive development. The implementation of the Paris Agreement and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) provides an impetus for this transformational growth.
However, there needs to be a scaling up of mitigation and adaptation initiatives in cities and access to technical and financial resources is essential for cities’ climate action plans and helping countries to meet their targets as part of their NDCs.
In December 2015, as Cities Alliance celebrated the adoption of the Paris Agreement and embarked on a new Joint Work Programme on Resilient Cities. In November 2016, Cities Alliance and its members and partners will be at COP22 in Marrakesh to showcase the challenges and efforts by cities and local communities to address climate change.
It is also an opportunity to enhance the work of our members and partners on building climate resilient communities and their neighbourhoods. The way we as an Alliance plan, implement, monitor and report on our work must reflect the need to deliver on the promise outlined in Paris. The achievement of national climate targets must become one of the benchmarks of our success in pursuit of sustainable cities.
Cities Alliance will also partner with WIEGO and the Global Alliance of Waste Pickers to highlight the role of informal waste picker communities in countries such as India and their contribution to climate change action in cities. Often invisible, these entrepreneurs are on the frontlines of the fight against climate change by reducing Greenhouse Gases and demand for natural resources. A dialogue between informal workers and climate change experts will be convened to produce key recommendations to support recycling and stronger climate financing.
