World leaders on Thursday focused attention on protecting cities at the ongoing 31st UN Climate Change Conference (COP 31), while activists challenged governments to do more.
Climate change is often paired with images of melting glaciers, disappearing forests and devastating fires. But for millions living in cities, the crisis is increasingly knocking on their doors.
The signs are everywhere: in floodwaters pouring into family homes, unbearable heat inside poorly built housing, and neighbourhoods where inadequate drainage turns heavy rains into disaster.
“Perhaps we have to change … the imaginary when we talk and think about climate change,” UN-Habitat Executive Director Anacláudia Rossbach said on the sidelines of COP31 in Antalya, Türkiye.
According to her, cities are on the front lines of climate change, and protecting them means protecting the people who live there.
For the first time at a UN climate conference, the COP31 Leaders’ Summit dedicated a high-level dialogue to urban resilience, adaptation and climate action.
The meeting brought together national and local leaders, financial institutions and other partners to address a growing challenge: up to three billion people lack adequate housing, while more than one billion live in informal settlements, often exposed to floods, landslides and extreme heat.
She, however, called for greater attention to the poorest communities, particularly those living in informal settlements, who have fewer resources to prepare for disasters or recover from them.
Protecting them requires more than stronger buildings. It also means access to drainage, sanitation, electricity and water, backed by better urban planning and financing.
“We need systemic change,” Rossbach said, underscoring the importance of partnerships among governments, banks, businesses and communities.
There are signs of progress. A new UN-Habitat analysis found that 80 per cent of national climate plans now contain well-developed urban measures, up from 50 per cent in the previous round.
Yet cities need around 4.5 trillion dollars in climate investment annually through 2030, while current financing covers only about one-fifth of that amount.
“We brought everybody that we need to bring together at this meeting,” she said, expressing hope that cities would gain a stronger voice in future negotiations and better access to financing.
In other positive news, 69 mayors representing more than 250 million people committed to another year of climate action through the Yearly Offer of Action initiative, a 60 per cent increase from last year.
Their plans include flood-warning systems in Addis Ababa, London’s first dedicated heat plan and incentives to improve the environmental performance of 400 commercial buildings in Melbourne. (NAN)
