Inaugural U20 Mayoral Summit to take place in Buenos Aires in October, ahead of the G20 Heads of State Summit hosted by Argentina
Mayors of Berlin, Buenos Aires, Chicago, Durban, Hamburg, Jakarta, London, Madrid, Mexico City, Milan, Montreal, New York City, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Rome, Sao Paulo, Seoul, Sydney, Tokyo and Tshwane, issue joint statement to G20 leaders.
April 18, 2018. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Cities will contribute more to the G20 process this year than ever before thanks to a new Urban 20 (U20) initiative that promotes dialogue and cooperation between 25 global cities and G20 nations. In a joint statement published today, the mayors of leading cities from G20 nations ask G20 leaders to work jointly on key global development issues including climate action, the future of work and social integration and inclusion. Signatories call on national governments to work with cities to achieve common goals, which include pursuing the full and rapid implementation of the Paris Agreement, addressing the challenges generated by the gig economy, pursuing gender equality and narrowing inequality gaps, among others. As of April 18th 2018, 21 U20 cities have already signed the Joint Statement: Berlin, Buenos Aires, Chicago, Durban, Hamburg, Jakarta, London, Los Angeles, Madrid, Mexico City, Milan, Montreal, New York City, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Rome, Sao Paulo, Seoul, Sydney, Tokyo and Tshwane.
"Urban 20 reflects the commitment and contributions of cities to tackle global challenges. Cities can provide solutions that improve the quality of life of people around the world: Urban 20 seeks to enrich the G20 process with an urban perspective, and to explore together policies for a better world," said Mayor of Buenos Aires, Horacio Rodríguez Larreta.
“U20 is an innovative tool for cities and national governments for fighting the major challenges of our time,” said Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris and C40 Chair. “Together, we can work to find concrete solutions to build more inclusive, resilient and sustainable cities. Mayors of major cities offer to share their experience and solutions in tackling climate change–which affects particularly those who are the most vulnerable– financing social inclusion, combatting gentrification, supporting local economy and involving our citizens, especially women who are our common priority.”
“U20 gives cities a unique platform to showcase their ambitious commitments and innovative solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase resilience, and enhance the quality of life of urban citizens,” said Mark Watts, Executive Director of C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group. “By partnering with national governments, mayors and city leaders can do even more to make our cities and our planet greener, healthier and more prosperous for all.”
"The challenges faced by our people and planet in the urban era necessitate a repositioning of the urban agenda in the international debate. Renewed financing, multi-level governance and multi-stakeholder partnerships fostered by all levels of government will be instrumental to achieve sustainability. Including these dimensions in the G20 discussions is extremely timely and will, no doubt, contribute to finding sustainable solutions,” said Parks Tau, President of UCLG.
The next U20 Sherpa Meeting will take place in New York on June 4-5, 2018, and the inaugural U20 Mayoral Summit will take place in Buenos Aires on 29-30 October 2018, one month ahead of the G20 Heads of State Summit hosted by Argentina.
For general enquiries about U20 please contact: info@urban20.org