The Egyptian COP27 Presidency will convene the first-ever ministerial meeting on urbanization and climate change at the UN Climate Change Conference of Parties on 17 November 2022. The session will focus on housing, urban development, and multilevel action for climate change. This meeting is hosted by Assem Abdelhamid Hafez El Gazzar, Minister for Housing, Utilities, and Urban Communities of Egypt.
This meeting will reinforce the Paris Climate Agreement Commitments and discuss commitments to climate change mitigation, climate change adaptation, and local climate finance. The COP27 initiative Sustainable Urban Resilience for the Next Generation (SURGe) will be launched at the event.
For the first time, the meeting will bring together ministers of housing, urban development, environment, and climate change. Representatives of local and regional governments through the Local Governments and Municipal Authorities Constituency to the UNFCCC, as well as non-party and non-state actors such as academia, civil society, non-governmental organizations, think tanks, the private sector, urban networks, multilateral banks, UN agencies, and intergovernmental organizations, and other observers will also be present.
Why a ministerial meeting at COP27?
National governments are increasingly supporting local climate action. Around 84 % of the updated Nationally Determined Commitments have strong or moderate urban content compared to 69% in the initial Nationally Determined Commitments. National governments play a pivotal role in accelerating subnational climate action and providing an environment for urban and local stakeholders to develop and implement new climate commitments.
Against this backdrop, Member States have requested the UN-Habitat’s Executive Director to explore the possibility of convening a housing and urban development ministerial meeting on cities and climate change.
We need appropriate frameworks and guidelines to ensure that climate action in our cities, towns, communities and even buildings is taken and that various actors are involved in the process. We also need a more robust integration of housing and sustainable urban development with Nationally Determined Commitments, National Adaptation Policies, climate change strategies, and plans.
Many countries, cities, and even private companies have taken bold steps toward climate action. However, we need bolder leadership and more action to meet our goal of 1.5 degrees Celsius target by 2030. The ministerial meeting will also showcase frontrunner countries with very strong urban climate content, their Nationally Determined Commitments, and cities with local net-zero plans in place.
The ministerial meeting takes place at COP27 in Sharn El-Sheikh, Egypt.
When:17 November 2022 from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm
Where:UNFCCC COP27, Blue Zone, Area E, Meeting Room MR 20, Sharm-El-Sheikh, Egypt
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of UN Habitat.
