Physical Address
23,24,25 & 26, 2nd Floor, Software Technology Park India, Opp: Garware Stadium,MIDC, Chikalthana, Aurangabad, Maharashtra – 431001 India
By Aayushi Sharma
With an aim to align cities with global climate goals, the inaugural UrbanShift Forum (Asia) was held in New Delhi with participants from cities in China, Indonesia, India and other countries of the region. The event, co-organized by ICLEI South Asia and the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA), brought together prominent dignitaries, government officials, and experts in the field of sustainable urban development.
Source:PIB
At the opening ceremony, Hardeep Singh Puri, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, said that India has taken the lead in combating climate change. He also mentioned that India was among the top five performing nations on climate change, according to the Climate Change Performance Index.
The Union Minister stressed the importance of localizing climate agendas, saying that, “Our journey of urbanization is a success story that has become a blueprint for other countries to learn from, particularly the Global South,”. The minister also touched upon how India is leading the discourse on encouraging environmentally responsible behaviours and accelerating climate finance through Urban 20. For the first time, climate finance found a notable mention in the final G20 Declaration, he said.
The Union Minister said that for India, the Panchamrit Action Plan was the anchor for climate response with the thrust centered on rapidly urbanizing cities, adding that cities need to reduce dependence on central funds for their financial needs to address climate change.
Source: Germanwatch2022
The main goal of the forum, according to the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry, is to train and build the capacity of regional cities on various facets of integrated and sustainable urban development.
Key Focs Areas:
About 250+ leaders had traveled to New Delhi from across India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Jordan and China (online) to be a part of Urban shift Asia forum. They aimed at sharing knowledge and building capacity to advance equitable climate action in cities.
The three days forum focussed on various environmental issues related to urban world. “While every city’s context is unique, many challenges–from rapid growth to the need for climate finance are shared. Collaboration can only strengthen our response.” said the officials from the forum.
What is Urban 20? How is it working to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change?
Currently, more than half of the world’s population resides in cities, and by 2050, roughly two-thirds of all people will live in cities. Cities may have a significant impact on the global development agenda because they are the main sources of growth around the world. “urban” is a term used to describe a group of individuals who live in small towns.
U20 is a group of cities from the G20 countries. India’s G20 presidency is an opportunity to show that city-level policies and practises have a significant impact on the realisation of global development priorities. U20 highlights six priority areas that are critical for promoting city-level actions that will respond to global agendas.
Cities are leading the charge in lowering greenhouse gas emissions and mitigating the hazards of climate change. The adoption of policies to considerably decrease emissions and ameliorate the negative effects of climate change thus requires large-scale expenditures, which must be supported by climate finance.
A high-level panel and other participants discussed important urban issues in the Asian region during the opening plenary session, focusing on ways to overcome challenges and make Asian cities “cities of opportunity.”
The objective of the UrbanShift Asia Forum is to provide training and capacity-building for regional cities, empowering them to achieve integrated and sustainable urban development. Senior political and technical representatives from UrbanShift cities met with representatives from international organizations, financial institutions, corporations, and NGOs to discuss the issues facing regional cities and possible solutions during the forum. In addition, participants also looked into creative financing options for their climate projects and pitched concepts to an investor audience.
During the Forum, the United Nations Environment Programme officially launched their online UrbanShift City Academy courses.
The UrbanShift City Academy is an online learning platform designed to train urban practitioners and city officials worldwide to rethink existing urban systems and develop integrated processes that contribute to building climate-resilient, nature-positive cities.
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References:
https://www.shiftcities.org/event/asia-forum-2023
https://pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetail.aspx?PRID=1960427
https://www.unep.org/events/publication-launch/city-academy-launch-urbanshift-asia-forum
https://www.u20india.org/Priorities
Image Source: https://pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetail.aspx?PRID=1960427
