Invitation to the Ministerial Meeting on Urbanization and Climate Change during the Solutions Day of COP27

Ministerial Meeting on Urbanization and Climate Change at COP27 0. Executive Summary On 17 November 2022, the Egyptian COP27 Presidency will convene the first-ever Ministerial Meeting on Urbanization and Climate Change at a UN Climate Change Conference of Parties, focusing on housing, urban development, multilevel action in relation to climate change. The Ministerial Meeting will reinforce the commitment of the Paris Agreement for multi-level climate action and will commit to accelerated climate change mitigation, climate change adaptation action and local climate finance. Further the Sustainable Urban Resilience for the Next Generation (SURGe) Initiative will be launched at the event. 1. Background: Cities, Regions and Climate Change Cities are key actors in the climate crisis. By 2050, towns and cities are expected to grow by 2.5 billion people raising the urban share to 68% of the global population. Growing urbanization and population growth, coupled with economic development and rising prosperity are expected to contribute to rising emissions in cities. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has warned that without drastic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, global warming will not be held to the target of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. With global warming comes extreme weather events that are acutely felt in cities. Never before has the IPCC highlighted the role of cities for climate change mitigation and adaptation to the extent done in its two most recent reports12. Summary reports for Urban Policymakers of the current round of IPCC assessment reports are under preparation and, given the importance of cities, the IPCC will embark on the development of a Special Report on Cities and Climate Change in the next Assessment Cycle. Cities are especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Groundwater depletion, fires, food shortages, sea-level rise, spikes in energy use due to extreme temperatures, and the increased frequency of extreme weather events such as floods, droughts and storms affect city infrastructure and the livelihoods and health of residents. More than 90% of the world’s urban areas are located along coastlines, where rising sea levels and storms threaten inhabitants and infrastructure with flooding and strong winds. More than 10% of the world’s physical assets and population are located in urban centers and clusters in low elevation coastal zones (less than 10 meters above sea level). Sea-level rise is already affecting more than 25 megacities severely. The more than 1 billion people who live in urban slums and informal settlements are particularly vulnerable to climate impacts, as many live along waterfronts and riverbanks that are prone to flooding. There is growing international awareness that the climate battle will be won or lost in cities. Cities are committing to climate action. Around 11,500 local governments have committed to reducing 1 IPCC (2022a): Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability (https://www.ipcc.ch/report/sixth-assessment- report-working-group-ii/) 2 IPCC (2022b): Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change (https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg3/) 1 greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to climate change through the Global Covenant of Mayors. At COP26 more than 1,000 cities and local governments joined the Cities Race to Zero. The more than 1,000 cities and local governments signing onto the Race to Zero represent 722 million people and will pursue ambitious climate action in line with limiting global temperature rise to 1.5℃ – the global standard for climate action. New estimates from Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy show that this collective action has the potential to reduce global emissions by at least 1.4 gigatons annually by 2030. But investments in urban climate resilience infrastructure is not enough. As of now, just 21% of climate finance goes towards adaptation and resilience (equivalent to USD 16.7 billion annually); and only around 10% of climate investments reach the local level. This is not enough: by 2030, the UN Environment Programme estimates that the developing world will have to spend up to USD 300 billion a year just to cope with exacerbated climate impacts. 2. Why a Ministerial Meeting on Urbanization and Climate Change at COP27? National governments are increasingly supporting local climate action: 84% of the updated NDCs now have strong or moderate urban content compared to 69% in the initial NDCs. National governments play a pivotal role to accelerate subnational climate action and to provide an enabling environment for urban and local stakeholders to develop new climate commitments and implement these. Against this backdrop, at UN-Habitat’s Executive Board meeting, member states, based on the Secretariat’s report3, requested UN-Habitat’s Executive Director to “explore with the Presidency of the twenty-seventh session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change the possibility of the convening of a housing and urban development ministerial meeting on cities and climate change to be held on the margins of COP27.”4 In order to ensure that climate action at the cities, towns, communities and at the building level is taken and to ensure that all key stakeholders (local government; the private sector, including construction companies, developers, financial institutions as well as urban professionals and their institutions; researchers, academia and communities) are engaged, national frameworks need to be strengthened. This would include the stronger integration of Housing and Sustainable Urban Development in NDCs and NAPs and other priority climate change policies, strategies and plans. Further Housing and Urban Policies, National Spatial Plans, Planning Frameworks, Building Codes and Standards etc. need to be 3 HSP/EB.2022/5 - Normative and operational activities of UN-Habitat B. Climate action in 2021: English: https://unhabitat.org/sites/default/files/2022/03/english-hspeb.20225.pdf; Arabic: https://unhabitat.org/sites/default/files/2022/03/arabic-hspeb.20225.pdf 4 Outcomes: at the moment the final edit has not been uploaded. Neither the draft nor the final decision are translated into English. However the linked version was approved by the Executive Board: https://unhabitat.org/sites/default/files/2022/04/hsp-eb-2022-crp2-rev.3.pdf 2 completely revised to support Net-Zero emission targets and Urban Climate Resilience Development. National frameworks are also critical to ensure that climate finance reaches cities and local governments. Strong international commitments from national governments, backed by cities, the private sector and other urban stakeholders need to be in place. Many countries, and cities, and companies have taken bold steps towards climate action. These, as well as cities that have not yet given climate change the needed attention, will be able to take faster climate action if the right framework conditions are put in place. The Ministerial Meeting on Urbanization and Climate Change would also showcase frontrunner countries with very strong urban climate content in their NDCs and other policies as well as cities and other urban climate actors who have put net-zero and climate resilience plans into action locally. What do we mean by multi-level climate action, why is it important, and why does it deserve more attention? In its preamble, the Glasgow Climate Pact recognizes "the important role of ...local communities and civil society … in addressing and responding to climate change and [highlights] the urgent need for multilevel and cooperative action”. Commensurate to the global commitment, 84% of revised NDCs now include strong or moderate urban content, up from 69% in the first generation of NDCs.5 The IPCC 2022 Assessment reports6 leave no doubt that local and urban climate action is absolutely essential to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement yet lagging. General consensus has emerged, and is confirmed in the above quote from the Glasgow Climate Pact, that multilevel climate action is becoming increasingly important for cities to realize their potential in climate adaptation, and mitigation, implementing the Paris Agreement and achieve nationally determined contributions (NDCs). Through collaboration, communication, and stakeholder engagement across all levels of government, multilevel climate action can create an enabling environment that can turn climate commitments into policy commitments across various sectors, strategies. More specifically, multilevel climate action can enable the development of regional and local contributions which complement and feed into NDCs. “Breaking down” NDCs into lower spatial-scale commitments requires access to data at national, regional, and local levels, which can help track the progress on climate commitments and enable their monitoring, evaluation, reporting, and verification. Specifically, multilevel climate action can include: • Integrated climate adaptation/mitigation, all levels of government and across sectors. 5 Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) White Paper | UN-Habitat (unhabitat.org) 6 Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability, Working Group II — IPCC, and Mitigation of Climate Change Working Group III — IPCC 3  • Climate Change integration into National Urban Policies, sector policies, guidelines, standards, plans, instruments, incentives and codes. • Integrate urban development dimensions in NDCs, National Climate Change Policies and Strategies and provide localization frameworks. • Conducive governance structures, stronger institutions, stakeholder engagement strategies. • Strategies for city and local-level climate finance • Strengthened vertically and horizontally integrated capacity development and communication • Integration of local climate data and monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) systems into national frameworks 3. Draft Agenda Ministerial Meeting on Urbanization and Climate Change – Moderator TBC Cairo Time Session Before meeting Room Opening and Seating Time start 5min Opening: COP27 President and Minister of Housing, Egypt Remarks: Ms. Maimunah Mohd Sharif, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN-Habitat 45min Segment 1. Mainstreaming climate and urban frameworks for local actions Keynote: Cities and Climate Change Keynote: NDCs and other urban frameworks Ministerial Statements Statements from LGMA Constituency and non-state actors * 40min Segment 2: Urban Frameworks and Climate Action Keynote: Urban Policies Ministerial Statements Statements from LGMA Constituency and non-state actors * 45min Segment 3: Accelerating urban action – launch of the SURGe Initiative Keynote: Presentation of SURGe Initiative and accelerating local climate finance Keynote: Housing, Buildings and Construction Ministerial Statements Statements from LGMA Constituency and non-state actors * 15min Segment 4: Way Forward Launch of SURGe Endorsement for SURGe initiative and adjournment *Note: this may include representatives from city networks, regional Networks, network of Regions, women’s and youth organizations, private sector, utilities, academia and community organizations 4 Invitation to the Ministerial Meeting on Urbanization and Climate Change at COP27 Honourable Riina Sikkut Ministry of Economic Affairs and Infrastructure Republic of Estonia Honourable Minister, I have the honour to invite you to the Ministerial Meeting on Urbanization and Climate Change, a flagship event hosted by the Government of the Arab Republic of Egypt and supported by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, which will take place during the Solutions Day of COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh on 17th of November 2022. Further details of the venue and exact time shall follow. As we have adopted the motto of “Together for Implementation” for COP27, this Ministerial Meeting will reinforce the commitment of the Paris Agreement for multi-level climate action and will commit to accelerated climate change mitigation, climate change adaptation action and local climate finance, with specific focus on most vulnerable regions. In addition, the COP27 Presidential Sustainable Urban Resilience for the Next Generation (SURGe) Initiative will be launched during this meeting. Accordingly, I welcome your early confirmation, especially with respect to your in-person participation. This event will also attract the participation of other Ministers for Housing, Urban Development, Environment and Climate Change, representatives of local and regional governments through the Local Governments and Municipal Authorities (LGMA) 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 UNFCCC Observers, and international and national media and press. Page 1 of 2  The deadline for confirmation is Sunday, 30 October 2022, 23:55 Cairo time. Confirmation on participation will be via the following registration form https://forms.office.com/r/5bS85w0QtV Further background information as well as the provisional agenda will be shared with registered participants in due time. Should you require additional information about the event at this point, you may contact via email the focal point of the Ministry of Housing, Utilities, and Urban Development at [email protected] or UN-Habitat at [email protected] with the subject line “COP27 Ministerial Meeting”. I look forward to your presence in Sharm El-Sheikh for the Ministerial meeting and for CoP27. Please accept, Honourable Minister, the assurances of our highest consideration. Dr. Assem Abdelhamid Hafez El Gazzar Minister for Housing, Utilities, and Urban Development Arab Republic of Egypt 04 October 2022 Page 2 of 2 Saatja: "MKM info" <[email protected]> Saaja: "MKM info" <[email protected]> Teema: FW: ESTONIA: Invitation to the Ministerial Meeting on Urbanization and Climate Change during the Solutions Day of COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, on 17 November 2022 Kuupäev: 2022-10-14 08:21 From: Katry Ahi &lt;[email protected]&gt; Sent: Friday, October 14, 2022 11:14 AM To: MKM info &lt;[email protected]&gt; Cc: Anu Vask &lt;[email protected]&gt;; Ketli Lindus &lt;[email protected]&gt;; Silver Tammik &lt;[email protected]&gt; Subject: FW: ESTONIA: Invitation to the Ministerial Meeting on Urbanization and Climate Change during the Solutions Day of COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, on 17 November 2022 From: Sille Võhma &lt;[email protected]&gt; Sent: Thursday, October 13, 2022 8:12 PM To: Katry Ahi &lt;[email protected]&gt; Subject: FW: ESTONIA: Invitation to the Ministerial Meeting on Urbanization and Climate Change during the Solutions Day of COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, on 17 November 2022 From: UNHABITAT-SGB &lt;[email protected]&gt; Sent: neljapäev, 13. oktoober 2022 3:24 To: Permanent Mission of Estonia to the UN &lt;[email protected]&gt; Cc: Chris Mensah &lt;[email protected]&gt;; Erfan Ali &lt;[email protected]&gt;; Neil Khor &lt;[email protected]&gt;; Bernhard Barth &lt;[email protected]&gt;; Cerin Kizhakkethottam &lt;[email protected]&gt;; Lea Ranalder &lt;[email protected]&gt;; Rania Hedeya &lt;[email protected]&gt; Subject: ESTONIA: Invitation to the Ministerial Meeting on Urbanization and Climate Change during the Solutions Day of COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, on 17 November 2022 Ref: UNH-SGB-O-22685 The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) presents its compliments to the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Estonia to the United Nations and has the honour to share the attached invitation letter from Honourable Assem Abdelhamid Hafez El Gazzar, Minister for Housing, Utilities, and Urban Development of the Arab Republic of Egypt addressed to the Minister responsible for human settlements and sustainable urbanization. This is as a follow-up to the briefing by the Executive Director held on 9 September 2022 which focused on the COP27 Presidential Sustainable Urban Resilience for the Next Generation (SURGe) Initiative and the scheduled Ministerial Meeting on Urbanization and Climate Change, hosted by the Government of Egypt and supported by UN-Habitat which will take place during the Solutions Day of COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, on 17 November 2022. UN-Habitat would be grateful if the Minister is made aware of the Meeting on 17 November 2022. The United Nations Human Settlements Programme avails itself of this opportunity to renew to the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Estonia to the United Nations the assurance of its highest consideration. Permanent Mission of the Republic of El Salvador to the United Nations New York.