6th UN Forum of Mayors: Cities call for a stronger voice at the UN

The 6th UN Forum of Mayors concluded in Geneva after bringing together representatives of more than 90 cities worldwide, including 70 represented by their mayors or deputy mayors. This was the largest edition of the Forum to date, demonstrating its growing reach and importance since its establishment in 2020.

Over the years, the UN Forum of Mayors has developed into what mayors themselves describe, in the Forum’s outcome document, as “an effective body for cities worldwide to exchange knowledge, best practices and local solutions, participate in the work of the UN and advance the localization of SDGs”. They also reaffirmed its value as a “scalable mechanism for strengthening institutional engagement between the UN and local and regional governments”.

In her opening remarks, the Mayor of Geneva and President of the Global Cities Hub, Christina Kitsos, underlined the Forum’s distinctive role: while many platforms enable cities to exchange among themselves, the UN Forum of Mayors provides a unique space for mayors to engage in the presence of States, within a formal UN setting.

A global platform for cities, supported by the Global Cities Hub

The Global Cities Hub (GCH) has been a proud partner of the UN Forum of Mayors since its very first edition. Working closely with all UN Regional Economic Commissions, the GCH helps bring mayors from Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East into dialogue with their counterparts from the UNECE region, strengthening the Forum’s global reach and character.

This work benefits from the support of the Canton of Geneva. In her remarks, Anne Hiltpold, President of the Canton of Geneva, recalled that additional funding had been granted to the Forum until 2029 to support its development and facilitate the contribution of cities and regions to sustainable development.

Local solutions for a more sustainable urban future

Offering a city-level perspective to the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, the UN Forum of Mayors focused this year on Sustainable Cities and Communities (SDG11). Mayors discussed a wide range of priorities, including sustainable mobility, adequate housing, inclusive planning and urban resilience, green spaces, and the protection of cultural and natural heritage.

The discussions demonstrated how cities are translating global commitments into practical action, including:

• Dunkirk, France, presented its experience with free public transport and its positive effects on urban centres, social inclusion and safety.
• Saida, Lebanon, shared its ambition to move beyond environmental crisis management towards sustainable urban development. Its nature-based solution project to rehabilitate the Awali river and its ecosystem, while creating an accessible public garden for the population.
• Windhoek, Namibia, presented its disaster risk reduction strategy to protect residents of informal settlements from flash floods and fires.
• Quinta Normal, Chile, showcased “Ciudad Mapocho”, a major housing and urban development project designed to advance social equity and improve residents’ access to public and private services.
• Hulu Selangor, Malaysia, highlighted its outdoor museum concept, using city murals to attract visitors, while creating spaces for reflection on history, culture and shared identity.

Together, these examples illustrated how local governments are responding to diverse urban challenges while advancing the objectives of the 2030 Agenda.

Innovation as a driver of urban transformation

Innovation was another key focus of this year’s Forum. The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), which hosted the Forum, launched its new WIPO City of Innovation Award, recognizing the visions and commitments of three cities: Charleroi, Belgium; Shanghai, China; and Liverpool, United Kingdom.

During a dedicated session, mayors also presented innovative approaches and smart technologies, including environmental monitoring, digital twins and traffic management systems. Discussions highlighted the importance of innovation ecosystems in which entrepreneurs, businesses, universities and public institutions work together to develop solutions to urban challenges, such as decarbonization.

Beyond the plenary: exploring key through side-events:

Alongside the plenary sessions, two side-events addressed disability inclusion and women’s leadership as mayors on the first day of the Forum. On the second day, the Global Cities Hub organized three side-events that have become an established part of the Forum’s programme:

• Nature as urban infrastructure: local solutions to heat, flooding and fires. The discussion explored how nature-based approaches can help reduce disaster-related human and economic losses while providing safe, inclusive and accessible green and public spaces.
• Mayors × International Organizations: High-level Exchange. Through small-group conversations with UNDRR, WHO, UNECE, ITU and UN-Habitat, mayors gained first-hand insights into the work, tools and opportunities offered by these organizations. In turn, international organizations heard directly from political leaders about local needs, barriers and priorities.
• Voluntary Local Reviews (VLRs) as a process and pathway to implementation. Participants explored how VLRs can evolve beyond reporting exercises to become practical instruments for action, investment and multilevel governance, and how international attention to their implementation and follow-up could be strengthened.

Urban Transformation Summit

The GCH also contributed to the Urban Transformation Summit, organized by the World Economic Forum (WEF) back-to-back with the UN Forum of Mayors, helping foster synergies on urban issues and facilitate mayors’ participation. Bringing together 100 mayors, investors, business executives, international organizations, civil society representatives and other stakeholders, the Summit examined how infrastructure, technology, governance and investment intersect to shape productivity, resilience and economic performance in cities.

Looking ahead: strengthening cities’ role in the UN and shaping the post-2030 Agenda

The Forum concluded with the adoption of an outcome document conveying a clear political message: mayors reiterated their call to strengthen and expand the Forum’s role within the UN system and to enhance the participation of local and regional governments in intergovernmental processes.

Eckart Würzner, Mayor of Heidelberg and Chair of the UN Forum of Mayors, presented the outcome document to Member States through the UNECE Committee on Urban Development, Housing and Land Management (CUDHLM). In addition, Member States adopted the final report of the Forum of Mayors.

As States review the Forum’s mandate, its continuation and future positioning within the UN system are crucial. The GCH calls on UNECE Member States to preserve this unique platform and seize the opportunity to strengthen its role in multilateral decision-making. Cities are on the front line of many global challenges and are essential to delivering on global commitments. They bring practical experience, innovative solutions and a direct understanding of people’s needs. Their voices deserve a stronger place in international decision-making.

This call is all the more urgent as the international community begins to reflect on the future of the sustainable development agenda beyond 2030. With less than four years remaining to achieve the SDGs, it is increasingly clear that the world will fall short of its ambitions. This collective failure must also serve as an opportunity and a call to do things differently.

When States adopted the SDGs in 2015, they made ambitious commitments. Experience has since demonstrated that achieving these goals requires the involvement of all levels of government. As discussions on the post-2030 agenda take shape, cities and mayors must be involved from the outset of international negotiations, so that global objectives can be developed collectively and grounded in local realities.

The UN Forum of Mayors offers an ideal platform for this dialogue. It is a place where cities from around the world can articulate their expectations for the post-2030 agenda and help shape the global framework that will follow. Mayors could, for example, call on States to embrace a new guiding principle promoting a whole-of-government approach, ensuring that States work across sectors and in close cooperation with local and regional governments to deliver the next sustainable development agenda.

The 7th UN Forum of Mayors will take place on 4–5 October 2027. The GCH looks forward to continuing to work with mayors, all UN Regional Economic Commissions and other international partners to strengthen the voice of cities in multilateral decision-making.