In the margins of the 5th UN Forum of Mayors, the event “Cooling and Building for Urban Resilience: Local Solutions, Global Impact,” convened by the Global Cities Hub, the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), brought together city leaders, diplomats and technical experts to advance scalable responses to rising urban heat, wildfire risk, and infrastructure vulnerability.
Opening the event, the Permanent Representative of Türkiye underlined that climate change is a daily reality, manifesting in heatwaves, droughts, and wildfires, and that urban cooling and resilient infrastructure are essential to protect public health, economic stability, and social equity. The representative of Brazil highlighted the support of the central government to local actions in his country.
Gulnara Roll, Head of UNEP Cities Unit, spotlighted the agency’s work that help local authorities integrate active and passive cooling, strengthen data-driven planning, and align urban investments with resilience outcomes.
From the International Fire Safety Standards (IFSS) Coalition, Brian Meacham and Gary Strong presented the global fire-resilience priorities in the built environment. They outlined the forthcoming “Decade of Action for Fire Safety (2026–2035)” and prepared a Mayors’ Declaration to be endorsed by mayors interested in accelerating the adoption of fire-safety standards, climate-resilient design, operations, and community preparedness.
City leaders detailed local challenges and solutions:
- Mayor of Bursa (Turkey): shifting from reactive crisis response to proactive resilience via data partnerships, extended village-level fire prevention, firefighter training, and virtual systems for emergency coordination.
- Mayor of Addu City (Maldives): addressing extreme heat and small-island vulnerabilities through solar infrastructure, energy and food security measures, 100,000 new trees and added water bodies to buffer climate shocks.
- Mayor of Turbat (Pakistan): confronting average summer temperatures near 49 °C and peaks above 50 °C, calling for innovative cooling and resilience financing.
- Municipality of Maricá (Brazil): protecting vulnerable communities amid intensifying heat waves and looking to the Cities and Regions Hub (in the margin of COP30) held in the city of Belem, Brazil, as a catalyst for local-to-global solutions that also safeguard ecosystems.
Speakers converged on three priorities: cooling as a life-saving necessity, health–economy–energy interdependence, and the need for financing and technical support to scale durable, equitable interventions.
Looking ahead, COP30 in Brazil will be a key platform to advance these priorities. GCH engages actively in city advocacy coalitions and follows the work of fellow organizations and partners such as Local Governments and Municipal Authorities Constituency to the UNFCCC LMGA.
Further, the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-7) meeting in Nairobi will feature an official event by the Global Cities Hub (8 December 2025), on heat and cooling. The GCH will continue to engage on extreme heat and urban cooling. One idea is to further examine this issue by launching a new initiative as a policy resolution to guide coordinated action across the UN system and among Member States. Follow us on social media and our website to know more about it.