Innovation for Better Quality of Life in Cities and Communities: First UN-Habitat Assembly
From 27-31 May 2019, the first UN-Habitat assembly is taking place in Kenya’s capital city of Nairobi. Reuben Kyama reports directly from the conference.
Infrastructure and SDGs in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, commits to implementation of the SDGs. To this end, the city focusses on sustainable construction, always ensuring to align the SDGs with national policies.
SDG Indicators for Municipalities
While the SDGs represent truly global goals, their implementation relies on local efforts. The initiative “SDG Indicators for Municipalities” by various stakeholders in Germany offers an extremely useful tool that allows to measure progress while paying attention to the specifics of individual municipalities.
Land Governance: Catalyst for Sustainable Urban Development
Without land reforms, sustainable urbanisation is set to fail, argues Danilo Antonio from UN-Habitat. In his article, he outlines the conflicting interests around land governance issues and points out ways to secure land access and property rights for all urban dwellers.
How to Reduce Nigeria’s Urban Carbon Footprint
By increasing the share of renewables in Nigeria’s energy production, a growing urban population will be able to attain energy supply and greenhouse gas emissions will go down, says author Ifeoma Malo from Power for All.
Sustainable Consumption and Production in Dhaka, Bangladesh – A Story of A New Beginning
Achieving SDG 12—Responsible Consumption and Production—would entail the implementation of various other SDGs, argues Farah Kabir. ActionAid Bangladesh aims at raising awareness and changing consumption patterns in the capital city of Dhaka.
Localisation is Mobilisation: The 2030 Agenda in Asia-Pacific
It is important to think locally when implementing the SDGs, argues Christopher Dekki. Countries in Asia-Pacific, such as Laos and Sri Lanka, are examples of this successful approach.
“The SDGs Are Critical in Everything That We Do”
Political will is a huge factor for effective SDG implementation. Yet, it is equally important that people understand the SDGs as something that directly benefits their daily lives. We spoke to Dr. Isaac Mensa-Bonsu from Ghana’s National Development Planning Commission about their lessons learned in implementing the SDGs.
Interview: The Power of Decentralisation
Ghana is one of the frontrunner countries dedicated to implementing the SDGs. Highlighting the local perspective, one area of implementation is the revision of the country's National Urban Policy. URBANET spoke to Sylvanus K. Adzornu from the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development about key drivers for successful implementation of SDGs.
Let’s talk about Urban Governance − Abidjan, Ivory Coast
There has been consent in international debates that implementing the SDGs requires approaching them from a local perspective. In this very personal account, Alexis Gueu talks about the challenges the city of Abidjan, Ivory Coast is facing – and the urgent need for the municipality to develop urban governance structures to tackle these problems.
Implementing a Nexus Approach to Sustainable Development in Urban Areas
This April, the second Nexus Conference will focus on the links and trade-offs between water, energy, and food—the “nexus”—in urban areas. Cities are at the forefront of the climate challenge and the heart of the global economy, so they are critical to implementing an integrated approach to meeting the SDGs and building climate resilience.
“Climate change and gender issues cannot be taken apart” – an interview with Laids Mias-Cea from UN-Habitat (video)
What are the linkages between climate change and gender? Why are women and youth particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change? And how can we create an enabling environment that allows women and youth to participate in climate decision making? URBANET talked to Maria Adelaida “Laids” Mias-Cea, Regional Coordinator of UN-Habitat’s Cities and Climate Change Initiative (CCCI). Check out her video on the occasion of this year’s International Women’s Day.
“In urban policy we need to get to where climate policy is today” (video)
The issue of urbanisation is gaining attention and cities are increasingly recognised as having a crucial role to play in achieving sustainable development. However, urban development has yet to become an integral part of the global political agenda. URBANET talked to Ani Dasgupta, Global Director of the WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities, about what needs to change to make urban development a political priority.
All WUFed out, but what comes next?
The Ninth Session of the World Urban Forum has been closed today. Gregory Scruggs looks ahead and points out what tracks to follow that started at WUF9, concerning collect city-level data and the follow-up and review processes.
New Report Explores How Cities Can Participate in the Follow-up and Review of Global Sustainability Agendas
At the Ninth Session of the World Urban Forum in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Cities Alliance has launched a new report that aims to help local and regional governments understand how they can participate in the follow-up and review process for global urban sustainability and climate agendas.