Press Releases and Advisories
- Yvo de Boer
Cities set course for climate adaptation as UN Bonn Climate Change Talks begin
31 May 2010
BONN, GERMANY – Local government leaders set their own course for cities’ climate change adaptation as the Bonn Climate Change Talks of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) open today.
500 Mayors, municipal decision makers and experts from universities and international organizations from all continents met for Resilient Cities 2010, the first world congress on the adaptation of cities to the impacts of Climate Change, organized by ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability, the World Mayors Council on Climate Change and the City of Bonn.
Konrad Otto-Zimmermann, Secretary General of ICLEI, commended Congress participants for making the event a success, but said there is a need for connections with leaders in other sectors. “The well-established disaster risk community and those who work in climate change need to work together to accelerate adaptation in cities,” he said. “We need to strengthen this movement of ‘adaptationists.’”
Mayors promise to safeguard the urban poor from the effects of climate change, to press for greater local government involvement in international climate proceedings and to allot more funds to cities' climate adaptation. Mayors set out a local leader's roadmap for climate adaptation preceding the UN Climate Talks (COP16) in Cancún, Mexico, 29 November – 10 December, 2010.
The Bonn Declaration of the Mayors Adaptation Forum 2010 is local governments' loudest international response to the failed UN Climate Change Conference (COP15) in Copenhagen of December 2009. COP15 did not deliver the bold, binding and global climate change agreement the world hoped for.
While cities make efforts to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions and increase urban energy-efficiency, they are at the same time at risk. Climate change is already leading to an increased frequency of extreme weather events bringing floods, landslides and droughts while melting glaciers threaten the drinking water supply of large cities. Sea-level rise will affect the many large cities located along the coastlines.
“Our cities are at risk now”, said Marcelo Ebrard, Mayor of Mexico City and chair of the World Mayors Council on Climate Change. “We are losing time, so we are working with other cities in order to have new ideas, new ways to do things faster than in the past. Our Mayors Adaptation Forum is a unique opportunity to discuss a way to get closer to the future we want.”
“Ultimately, it is cities that will directly face and directly deal with climate change impacts,” said Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC, who spoke emphatically about cities' role in international climate adaptation at the final plenary of the Congress.
We know from past experience that the poor in all countries suffer most from the impacts of climate change. Local authorities are hard placed to provide [help] without a national and international policy framework,” de Boer said. “National governments should not be allowed to get away with this.”
“The United Nations doesn’t yet have a good framework for interacting with local governments,” said Margareta Wahlström, UN Assistant Secretary General for Disaster Risk Reduction and moderator of the final Resilient Cities 2010 plenary panel. She called for an “increase of space for local governments in the national arena and in global agenda-setting.”
The congress also saw the launch of the Making Cities Resilient Campaign by the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction.
First-ever global forum on cities and adaptation launching 28 May 2010 in Bonn, Germany
26 May 2010
BONN, GERMANY - Adapting to dramatic implications of climate change is a monumental challenge facing cities of the 21st Century. The first global forum on this topic, „Resilient Cities 2010“ will be held in Bonn from 28-30 May 2010. The congress is jointly convened by ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, the City of Bonn and the World Mayors Council on Climate Change.
Resilient Cities 2010 will highlight the critical role cities must play in global adaptation to climate change. The Congress will showcase the latest scientific findings, state-of-the-art tools and most effective programs in mastering climate adaptation in cities worldwide.
Speaker highlights include:
Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
Marcelo Ebrard, Mayor, Mexico City; Chair, World Mayors Council on Climate Change
Abha Joshi-Ghani, Manager, Finance, Economics & Urban Development Department, World Bank
Inga Klevby, Deputy Executive Director, The UN Human Settlements Program
Reta Jo Lewis, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's Special Representative for Global Intergovernmental Affairs, US Department of State
Konrad Otto-Zimmermann, Secretary General, ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability
Margareta Wahlström, UN Special Representative of UN Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction
Other highlights include:
Katrina+5: A special commemoration of Hurricane Katrina will mark the 5th anniversary of one of the biggest natural disasters in United States history; the storm is viewed as a wake-up call for governments to put urban climate adaptation at the top of their agendas. This commemorative address offers participants a look at the social, economic and technological impacts incurred by the tragedy that tore New Orleans apart.
'Reality Check': these innovative sessions profile the unique climate-related problems of several cities and propose policy solutions to usher these local governments to adaptative futures. Featured cities are: Durban, South Africa; Dhaka, Bangladesh; Quito, Ecuador and Miami Dade County, USA.
Making Cities Resilient Campaign: The United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) will unveil its new 2010-2011 campaign – Making Cities Resilient: My City is Getting Ready. City mayors will be invited to sign up for ten essentials that will make their cities more resilient to disasters.
Mayors Adaptation Forum: Political leaders will discuss strategic local leadership for adaptation and the global political advocacy work of Mayors.
Bonn Declaration of Mayors: The Congress concludes with the signing of the Bonn Declaration of Mayors, a road map for the World Mayors Council on Climate Change's trajectory toward the next UN climate summit (COP 16) in Cancun, Mexico, and beyond.
Weltforum über die Anpassung der Städte an den Klimawandel: Hunderte Klima-Experten und Politiker treffen in Bonn zusammen
BONN, DEUTSCHLAND – Resilient Cities 2010, das erste globale Forum über die Anpassung von Städten an den Klimawandel, wird an diesem Wochenende mehr als 450 internationale Experten, politische Führungskräfte und Bürgermeister aus der ganzen Welt nach Bonn bringen.
Städte und Gemeinden spielen eine zentrale Rolle bei der weltweit nötigen Anpassung an den Klimawandel. Dies ist der Leitgedanke von Resilient Cities 2010. Drei Tage lang werden Teilnehmer Ideen austauschen, Netzwerke knüpfen, miteinander debattieren und Strategien entwickeln, um die dringlichsten Herausforderungen des Klimawandels für Städte im 21. Jahrhundert herauszuarbeiten. Zwei Dittel der Menschheit wird im Jahr 2030 in Städten leben" sagt Konrad Otto-Zimmermann, Generalsekretär des Weltkommunalverbandes ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, der den Kongress veranstaltet.
"Die meisten großen Städte der Welt liegen entlang der Küsten, während dieglobale Erwärmung zum Ansteigen des Meeresspiegels und einem Anstiegextremer Wetterereignisse führt" sagt Otto-Zimmermann. "Wir müssen dieZusammenhänge erkennen, uns der Herausforderung stellen und die Anpassung der Städte an den Klimawandel anpacken. Wir müssen schnell und konzentriert handeln", fügt er hinzu. "Dies bildet die Motivation für ICLEI, das erste Welltforum über Städte und ihre Anpassung an den Klimawandel, Resilient Cities 2010, zu organisieren.
Der Kongress bietet eine Reihe hochkarätiger Referenten; neben Jürgen Nimptsch, Oberbürgermeister der Stadt Bonn, werden Yvo de Boer, Exekutivsekretär der UN-Klimakonvention, und Margareta Wahlström, Beigeordnete UN-Generalsekretärin für die Einschränkung des Katastrophenrisikos, an einer Arbeitssitzung teilnehmen.
Weitere Beiträge während des Kongresses kommen von Reta Jo Lewis, US-Außenministerin Hillary Clinton’s Sonderbeauftragte für Globale Zwischenstaatliche Belange, und Abha Joshi-Ghani, Manager der Finanz-, Wirtschafts- & Urbanen Entwicklungs-Abteilung der Weltbank.
In Gegenwart von Marcelo Ebrard, Bürgermeister von Mexico City und Vorsitzender des Weltbürgermeisterrates zum Klimawandel, wird die erste Bonner Bürgermeister-Erklärung unterzeichnet. Die Erklärung beinhaltet Anpassungsmaßnahmen an den Klimawandel für Städte und Gemeinden auf dem Weg zur nächsten UN-Klimakonferenz Ende 2010 in Cancún, Mexiko.
„Resilient Cities 2010“ findet vom 28.-30. Mai 2010 im Gustav-Stresemann-Institut statt, bevor am 31. Mai die UN-Klimaverhandlungen in Bonn beginnen.
Der Kongress wird veranstaltet von ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, dessen Weltsekretariat in Bonn arbeitet, in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Weltbürgermeisterrat für Klimawandel und der Stadt Bonn.
Die Organisatoren des Kongresses erfahren Unterstützung durch mehrere UN-Organisationen, das Ministerium des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen für Generationen, Familie, Frauen und Integration, die Rockefeller-Stiftung, USAID, den Europäischen Fonds für regionale Entwicklung, das Weltbank-Institut, SolarWorld und die Stiftung internationale Begegnung der Sparkasse KölnBonn.