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Category: News

Strengthening investors’ confidence in urban climate finance

The SDSN Global Commission for Urban SDG Finance and the Penn Institute for Urban Research have recently published their report “The Green Cities Guarantee Fund: unlocking access to urban climate finance”. The Commission also presented the proposed Green Cities Guarantee Fund (GCGF) at U20 in Rio de Janeiro. Global Cities Hub co-director Kemileva is an SDSN commissioner and GCH considers climate financing as a key issue for LRGs.

Local and Subnational Governments’ Coalition to End Plastic Pollution: An Open Letter to the Chair of the Negotiations for the Plastic Pollution Treaty

Today, during a dedicated event hosted by the Geneva Environment Network, the Local and Subnational Governments’ Coalition to End Plastic Pollution reaffirmed its commitment to supporting a strong Plastic Pollution Treaty. The Coalition introduced an open letter  and draft langage addressed to the Chair of the negotiations (INC5) mentionning that the treaty presents a crucial opportunity for the …

Good morning, Mayor, here is what will most probably happen in the city today

On World Cities Day, the Global Cities Hub was delighted to cooperate with ITU to organize the webinar “Celebrating World Cities Day and Shaping Urban Futures” which contributed to promoting the concept of people-oriented smart cities. Speakers agreed that smart cities should prioritize the well-being and needs of their residents, therefore smart city leaders should …

Trust cities, partner with cities, and invest in cities

The 12th World Urban Forum (WUF12), organized by UN-Habitat in Cairo from November 4-8, brought together a record-breaking 24,000 participants from 182 countries, making it one of the United Nations’ largest gatherings, second only to climate COPs. With the theme “It All Starts at Home,” the event highlighted the need for cities to …

Localizing humanitarian action: the essential role of local governments

At the 34th International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, little was said about local and regional governments (LRGs), who are frontline responders to the humanitarian consequences of armed conflicts, violence, natural and technological disasters, climate change, mass migration flows, pandemics, etc.

Building peace through an urban lens

We were truly honoured to have such distinguished speakers at our Peace Panel “Building Peace through an Urban Lens”, held on October 17th in the framework of the Geneva Peace Week. Most sincere thanks to Mayor Issa Kassis, AlHakam Shaar, Antonio Sampaio for their compelling presentations. It was fascinating to hear what peace means at …

Mayors and International Organizations: Working together for sustainable and inclusive cities

Following last year’s successful event, the Global Cities Hub brought together Mayors and Deputy Mayors with leaders from UNECE, UNCTAD, UNHCR, and WHO, on the margins of the Fourth Forum of Mayors. The discussion covered critical topics such as refugee inclusion, sustainable urbanization, urban health, and trade development. Each leader underscored the importance of local governments as key partners in making a tangible impact on people’s lives, highlighting the pivotal role cities play in addressing global challenges. City leaders, in turn, expressed their readiness to collaborate with international organizations to tackle these pressing challenges.