Tag: Resilience

Cities are at the forefront of experiencing a host of climate impacts, including coastal and inland flooding, heat waves, droughts, and wildfires. As a result, there is a widespread need for municipal agencies to understand and mitigate climate risks to urban infrastructure and services – and the communities they serve – according to a new report released by C40 and a group of leading cities.

In 2015, cities played a central role at COP21 in Paris, pushing national leaders to reach the ambitious Paris Climate Agreement. The New Urban Agenda, to be adopted at the Habitat III Conference in Quito next week, will join the Paris Agreement, the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and other recent international agreements as part of a global framework for sustainability. After many rounds of negotiations, urban governance and the role of local governments have been recognized in its final draft. This is a success for the collective advocacy of the Global Taskforce of Local and Regional Governments – a platform of city networks of which C40 is a member. It is also a sign of the tremendous commitment from mayors to create equitable, prosperous, low-carbon and resilient cities. 

Cities are potentially the most resilient of all human creations, yet modern cities and their reliance on technologies have demonstrated our weaknesses in the face of increasingly extreme weather events. The combining trends of urbanisation and climate change have moved the topic of resilience to the forefront of climate change discussions. According to the United Nations, natural disasters between 2000 and 2012 are estimated to have caused $1.7 trillion globally in damages.