Climate change is undoubtedly one of the most urgent, complex and challenging issues of our time. The 2015 Paris Agreement provides an ambitious and innovative framework for stabilizing the earth’s climate. Cities and local authorities have a key role to play in its implementation. The lecture will discuss the role of the United Nations in supporting urban action to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change impacts. It will provide a wide range of examples of how UN-Habitat and partners have stimulated the acceleration of urban climate change action in various thematic areas across the world over the past decade. It will conclude by distilling guiding principles for effective urban action to address climate change.

1. 1
Lecture KU Leuven
23 November 2017
The role of the United Nations in
supporting urban action on climate change

2. Outline
1. Introduction: SDGs, Paris Agreement
and the New Urban Agenda
2. Role of Cities & Subnational Authorities
3. Mitigation in Urban Areas
4. Adaptation in Urban Areas
5. Upcoming initiatives
6. Guiding principles for city climate
action planning
7. Conclusions
2

3. Why should UN-Habitat engage with
climate change?
3
• Linkages with sustainable development, human rights, peace and security
• Universal issue, with differentiated responsibilities and impacts
• Complex and urgent, but still narrow window of opportunity to act
• Cities as culprits, victims and solutions
Bissighin, Ougadougou, Burkina Faso Chengdu, China

4. 1. Introduction
4
Sustainable
Development
Agenda
NUA includes 22 references to
climate change, climate action & related
(versus 1 reference in Habitat II document)
New
Urban
Agenda
Of 169 SDG Targets, United Cities &
Local Governments (UCLG) considers
that 92 (54%) are relevant for
Local Governments
Of 160 Nationally Determined
Contributions (NDCs) reviewed,
UN-Habitat found 110 (69 %)
included urban mentions
Paris
Agreement
Agendas are mutually reinforcing on urban climate action:

5. Focus on SDGs 11+13 (but also 7, 12, 17)

6. Climate Change Strategy UN-Habitat
✓ Improved policies, plans and strategies that contribute to the
mitigation of and adaptation to climate change adopted by
partner city, regional and national authorities.
✓ Compact, integrated, connected cities that are inclusive and
resilient to climate change
6
https://unhabitat.org/un-habitats-strategic-plan-2014-2019/

7. Recognize
1. Local and subnational governments as “ governmental stakeholders“
(Para.7 of Dec.1/CP16, in Cancun in 2010)
2. Role of cities and subnational authorities in raising pre2020 ambition
(Para.5b of Dec.1/CP19, in Warsaw in 2013)
3. Engaging in capacity building, adaptation and loss and damage
(Paris Agreement preamble para.15, 7.2, 11.2, 8.4.h + COP21 Decision on Non-Party Stakeholders)
√ 4. Ministerial-Mayoral Dialogues (COP16-2010-Cancun, COP19-2013-Warsaw) and High Level Action
Days (COP20-2014-Lima, COP21-2015-Paris)
5. ADP Workstream-2 Technical Examination Process on Urban Environment and Cities and
Subnational Forum
6. Compact of Mayors, Compact of States and Regions, Covenant of Mayors, Under2MoU etc.
7. Increased number of organizations of the Local Governments and Municipal Authorities
Constituency (LGMA) and Special UNFCCC badges for their Political Leaders
8. Lima-Paris Action Agenda (LPAA) Declarations including 5-Year Vision and NAZCA Platform, including
carbonn Climate Registry as the first data partner
9. Friends of Cities at the UNFCCC, increased local/subnational leaders in national delegations
10. Workplan of Paris Committtee on Capacity Building (para. 73.d/g of Dec. 1/CP21)
11. ~ 50% of submitted INDCs in 2015 have a focus on action at local and subnational level
12. Cities and regions contributing to global funds (City of Paris and Brussels Capital Region to GCF,
Quebec to GEF-LDCF and others)
13. New resources (e.g. GEF Integrated Action Programme on Sustainable Cities, Cities Climate Finance
Leadership Alliance (CCFLA) , Climate-KIC LoCaL, UN Subnational Climate Action Hub)
14. Transformative Actions Programme (TAP)
15. 2030 SD Agenda; Sendai-Disaster, Addis Ababa-Finance, SDGs (including Goal:11)
Engage
Empower
√
√
From Bali/2007 to Paris/2015
Achievements of global climate advocacy of Local/Subnational Govts

8. 8
2. Role of Cities & Subnational authorities
COP-21 Decision:
✓Mentions “Cities & subnational authorities” as a non-Party
stakeholder
✓Invites non-Party stakeholders to “scale up their efforts” &
demonstrate action on platform
✓Provides for a “work plan” on “capacity-building” that includes
subnational level
✓Calls for new platform to exchange experiences & best practices

9. 9
2. Role of Cities & Subnational authorities
COP-23 Decision: We are Still in Coalition
✓ To achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement, we are helping to build a
Grand Coalition to accelerate climate action across all nations and at
every level of society
✓ Under2 Coalition now includes 189 cities, states and
countries collectively representing more than 1.2 billion people

10. 2. Role of Cities & Subnational authorities
10

11. Greenhouse Gas Emissions
by Economic Sectors
11

12. The cost of inaction
12

13. 2. Role of Cities & Subnational authorities
13
 Climate Change – Migration
✓ Rising sea levels and coastal
erosion
✓ Warming and acidification oceans
✓ Decreases of river and lake ice
seasons
✓ Reduction in glacial mass
✓ Heatwaves, floods, storms, fires
and droughts
✓ Change to crop productivity
✓ Desertification
@Schuyler Null

14. 2. Role of Cities & Subnational authorities
14
China © Institute for Transportation and Development PolicyIndia © Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP)
“Urban & regional planners have
a key role to play in helping
cities…
✓ Reduce greenhouse gas
emissions
✓ Build climate resilience”.

15. 2. Role of Cities & Subnational authorities
“National governments
can empower local
governments to take
climate action”.
15
Multi-level
Governance

16. Global Level – normative publications
16
https://unhabitat.org/books/addressing-climate-change-in-national-urban-policy/ https://unhabitat.org/books/sustainable-urbanization-in-the-paris-agreement/

17. 3. Mitigation in Urban Areas –
Transportation
17
Current traffic situation on Moi Avenue, Nairobi
Rendering of Bus Rapid Transit Station
➢ Global Environmental
Facility -
“Promoting Sustainable
Transport Solutions for East
African Cities” (2011-2015)
▪ Implemented by UN Habitat
and UN Environment

18. 3. Mitigation in Urban Areas –
Transportation (continued)
18
➢ “Urban Electric Mobility
Initiative (UEMI)”
▪ Implementation concepts
for the integration of e-mobility
solutions in a wider
sustainable transport and
sustainable urbanization
strategies
http://www.uemi.net/

19. Oslo, Norway –
▪ Oslo’s Action Plan for
Environment & Climate
Change calls for expanded
public charging stations &
other actions to promote
electric mobility.
▪ From 2009 to 2013, Oslo
reduced per capita
greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions by 9 %.
19
Former Oslo Mayor, Mr. Fabian Stang, in a model electric
vehicle.
3. Mitigation in Urban Areas –
Transportation (continued)

20. Bogor, Indonesia –
▪ Under the EC-funded Urban-
LEDS Project (co-implemented
with ICLEI), UN-Habitat assisted
Bogor to chart a path towards
strengthened Bus Rapid
Transit.
20
‘Roadmap to Bus Rapid Transit’ for City of Bogor, Indonesia.
3. Mitigation in Urban Areas -
Transportation (continued)

21. 3. Mitigation in Urban Areas –
Transportation (continued)
➢ Federal Ministry for Nature
Conservation, building and Nuclear
Safety (BMUB)– “URBAN
PATHWAYS: Supporting Low Carbon
Plans for Urban Basic Services in the
context of the New Urban Agenda”
▪ Implemented by UN Habitat, UN
Environment and Wuppertal Institute
▪ India, Brazil, Kenya, Vietnam
http://www.urban-pathways.org/
21

22. Well designed 'green' buildings reduce GHG emissions from business
as usual
22
Green roof on top of the old broadcasting building in
Copenhagen, Denmark
Carré Vert office building in Paris, France, awarded with
an “Outstanding” BREEAM rating
3. Mitigation in Urban Areas -
Buildings
FRENCH CASE
STUDY

23. 3. Mitigation in Urban Areas -
Buildings (continued)
23
Green Roof Law in Recife, Brazil
(from Urban-LEDS 1)
➢ European Commission –
“Promoting Urban Low Emission
Development Strategies” (Urban-
LEDS 1, 2012-2015)
▪ Implemented by Local Governments
for Sustainability (ICLEI) and UN
Habitat
▪ Brazil, India, Indonesia, South Africa

24. 24
Sub-Saharan Africa-
▪ In 2010, UN-Habitat invited
progressive builders from 19
countries in sub-Saharan
Africa to explore Green
Building Council concept.
▪ Following conference, Nigeria
launched its own Green Building
Council; Kenya consolidated.
3. Mitigation in Urban Areas -
Buildings (continued)
Participants at the Conference on Promoting Green
Building Rating in Africa, hosted by UN-Habitat in Nairobi

25. 3. Mitigation in Urban Areas -
Buildings (continued)
25
➢ Global Environment
Facility and East African
governments –
“Promoting Energy
Efficiency in Buildings”
(2015)
▪ UN-Habitat in collaboration
with UNEP
▪ Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda,
Rwanda and Burundi
Burundi
Source: www.bc-as.org

26. 26
3. Mitigation in Urban Areas -
Energy
Hamburg, Germany –
▪ After acquiring 25% of shares in
local energy, gas & district
heating utilities in 2012,
Hamburg took over entire
electricity distribution network in
2014
▪ Took place under Germany’s
Energiewende (‘Energy
transition’) policy of 2010
▪ Transition to distributed energy
coincides with big increase in
share of renewables – from 5
% (1999) to 23 % (2012)
In September 2013, 51 % of Hamburg, Germany citizens
voted in a referendum for the remunicipalisation of the
energy distribution grid

27. 27
3. Mitigation in Urban Areas -
Energy
Solar Street Light Assembly Training
for Youth in Kalobeyei, Kenya –
▪ Energy efficiency and renewable
energy technologies
▪ Improving the public space safety and
delivering essential technical capacity
▪ UN-Habitat, UNHCR and the County
Government with support from the
Government of Japan
Refugee community in Kalobeyei, Kenya

28. 28
3. Mitigation in Urban Areas -
Energy (continued)
Cape Town, South Africa –
▪ Kuyasa Clean Development
Mechanism Pilot Project
retrofitted 2,309 low-cost
homes with solar water
heaters, insulated ceilings &
energy efficient lighting.
▪ Estimated reductions in
GHG emissions 2009-2012:
10,527 tonesThe retrofitted district of Kuyasa, Cape Town, South Africa

29. 3. Mitigation in Urban Areas -
Waste Management
Ämmässuo (Helsinki
metropolitan area), Finland -
▪ Generates 15 MW of power.
▪ Reduces GHG emissions
generated by waste treatment
center by 3,000 tones per
year (CO2e).
29
Landfill to gas plant in Ämmässuo, Finland

30. 3. Mitigation in Urban Areas -
Waste Management (continued)
➢ Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA)
– Pilot Landfill Site Construction Kiambu County (Kenya)
▪ Benefits: reduced waste, reduced GHG emissions & local economic
development
▪ By UN-Habitat, Fukuoka University (Japan) and JICA
30

31. 3. Mitigation in Urban Areas -
Waste Management (continued)
➢ German foundation BASF Stiftung
and UN Habitat’s Cities and
Climate Change Initiative –
Multifunctional Community
Centre for Renewable Energy in
Beira, Mozambique
▪ From human waste, bio-digester
produces biogas, fuel briquettes
& solar energy
▪ Benefits: reduced waste, reduced
GHG emissions & local economic
development
▪ Developed by UN–Habitat &
Municipal Council of Beira
31
The Multifunctional Community Centre for Renewable
Energy,, slum of Munhava, Mozambique

32. 3. Mitigation in Urban Areas -
Waste Management (continued)
African Clean Cities Platform
▪ Knowledge sharing, waste SDG monitoring
and capacity development
▪ UNEP, UN-Habitat, JICA and Ministry of the
Environment of Japan
32

33. 3. Mitigation in Urban Areas -
Cross-sectoral Planning
33

34. 34
3. Mitigation in Urban Areas -
Cross-sectoral Planning (continued)
Royal Seaport district in Stockholm, Sweden
Royal Seaport, Stockholm, Sweden -
▪ A new district in a former brownfield
industrial land
▪ By allowing taller buildings, density of
the built environment in the district is
expected to nearly double compared
to Stockholm’s average
▪ Carbon footprint emission
projected to decrease to 1.5 tones
per capita per year (compared to
city-wide 4.5 tones)

35. 3. Mitigation in Urban Areas -
Cross-sectoral Planning (continued)
35
Guangzhou, China -
More compact city development in
China could save up to US$ 1.4
trillion in infra-structure spending
- a considerable ‘co-benefit’.
Source: World Bank, as cited in New Climate Economy Cities Paper 03
Transit Oriented
Development centered on
Bus Rapid Transit System in
Curitiba, Brazil

36. 3. Mitigation in Urban Areas -
Cross-sectoral Planning (continued)
➢ European Commission –
“Promoting Urban Low
Emission Development
Strategies” (Urban-LEDS I,
2012-2015)
▪ Implemented by Local
Governments for Sustainability
(ICLEI) and UN Habitat
▪ Brazil, India, Indonesia, South
Africa
36
Doornkop Community, South Africa: showcasing
sustainable solutions (from Urban-LEDS 1)

37. 3. Mitigation in Urban Areas -
Cross-sectoral Planning (continued)
37
Global Covenant of Mayors Day
✓ UN-Habitat on Founders’
Council
✓ Currently helping two
committed cities in Least
Developed Countries to comply
with commitments
✓ Nacala (Mozambique) and
Moroni (Comoros)
Support by SIDA
Cities and Climate Change Initiative, Bulletin October 2017
Greenhouse gas emission inventory workshop in Nacala,
Mozambique

38. 4. Adaptation in Urban Areas
Cities & Climate Change
Initiative (Gov’t. of Norway)
❖ Port Vila, Vanuatu Climate
Change Vulnerability
Assessment
✓ Used as key input into recovery
after Typhoon Pam (March
2015)
38

39. 4. Adaptation in Urban Areas
Asia
 Lao PDR – “Enhancing
the climate & disaster
resilience of the most
vulnerable rural &
emerging urban
human settlements”
✓ Adaptation Fund
✓ Rapid methodology
39
Stakeholder consultation in preparation for the AF project in Laos
© UN-Habitat

40. 4. Adaptation in Urban Areas (continued)
Africa
 St. Louis – assess
vulnerability, weigh options &
build climate resilience in
flood-prone neighborhood
 Kampala – Integrated flood
risk management strategy
40

41. 4. Adaptation in Urban Areas (continued)
41
➢ SIDA – “Pro-poor Planning
of Climate Resilience in
Marginalized
Neighborhoods” (2016-
2019)
▪ City Resilience Action
Planning (City-RAP) tool
▪ Jamaica, Cameroon,
Solomon Islands, Burkina
Faso, Fiji
Bissighin, an informal settlement in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
© Felix Vollmann, UN-Habitat

42. 4. Adaptation in Urban Areas (continued)
42
Following cyclone-related flooding in 2014, UN-Habitat supported
development of an Urban Resilience & Climate Action Plan
✓ Developed & jointly approved by national & city
governments
Honiara,
Solomon
Islands

43. 4. Adaptation in Urban Areas
➢ Adaptation Fund – Increasing
the resilience of informal
urban settlements
▪ UN-Habitat, Ministry of Local
Government, Housing &
Environment the four local
councils and various NGOs
▪ Fiji
43

44. 4. Adaptation in Urban Areas
➢ Adaptation Fund – Enhancing
urban resilience to climate
change impacts in Honiara
▪ UN-Habitat, Ministry of Lands
Housing and Survey and Honiara
City Council
▪ Solomon Islands
44

45. 4. Adaptation in Urban Areas (continued)
➢ European Commission
Myanmar Climate Change
Alliance
✓ UN Environment & UN-Habitat
✓ Launched 2013
Now formulated:
▪ National Climate Change
Policy, Strategy & Action
Plan
45
Town planners & authorities participate in participatory
hazard mapping exercise in Pakokku Town, Myanmar

46. 4. Adaptation in Urban Areas (continued)
Netherlands (“Building with
Nature”) –
▪ Lowering old dykes to allow
water to flow freely
▪ Protecting upstream human
settlements & nearby farms
from flooding
46
“Room for the river” infrastructure project in Overdiepse
Polder, Netherlands

47. 5. Upcoming initiatives
COP-23 – Major emphasis on
cities UN-Habitat – strong
visibility & engagement
47

48. 5. Upcoming initiatives
“Planners for Climate Action”. A new initiative involving…
- National, regional, global planning associations and planning educators
to promote the integration of climate change and urban planning.
- Recognizes the important role that planners have to play in mitigating
and adapting to climate change.
- Aims to co-ordinate and amplify the voice of planners in the UNFCCC
under the Marrakesh Partnership
48

49. 5. Upcoming initiatives
49
Accra, Ghana © Can Do Land Tours
➢ Climate & Clean Air Coalition
– Small role in Urban Health
Initiative
▪ Accra, Ghana (being
implemented)
http://www.ccacoalition.org/en
➢ European Climate Foundation
– Grant to defray engagement in
Founders’ Council of Global
Covenant of Mayors (nearly
signed)
https://europeanclimate.org/
Accra, Ghana

50. 5. Upcoming initiatives
➢ European Commission –
“Accelerating climate action through
promotion of Urban Low Emission
Development Strategies” (Urban-
LEDS 2, signed July 2017)
▪ Existing – Brazil, India, Indonesia,
South Africa
▪ New – Colombia, Bangladesh, Lao
PDR, Rwanda
50

51. 5. Upcoming initiatives
51
 Scientific Conference on
Cities & Climate Change
✓ March 2018
✓ Edmonton, Canada
✓ UN-Habitat on Organizing
Committee
✓ Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change co-organizer
✓ 4 commissioned papers
Visit of Organizing Committee to Edmonton

52. 5. Upcoming initiatives
52
 Public spaces in informal settlements – climate change
✓ Challenge: How might urban slum communities become more
resilient to the effects of climate change?
✓ Streets and public spaces have often been overlooked and
undervalued, but are increasingly being considered the backbone of
cities
✓ Support informal settlement to improve designing and
development of public spaces for Neighborhood Resilience through
Social Cohesion

53. 5. Upcoming Initiatives
53
➢ System of Environmental &
Social Safeguards
✓ Dec 2016 – approved
✓ 2017 – Gradually being
implemented
✓ Complements & goes beyond
our system of cross-cutting
Markers
✓ Key pre-condition to
accreditation by Green Climate
Fund

54. Guiding Principles for City Climate Action Planning
54
Ambitious Inclusive Fair Comprehensive and
integrated
Relevant Actionable Evidence-based Transparent and
verifiable
https://unhabitat.org/the-guiding-principles/

55. 6. What are the Guiding Principles?
55
Copenhagen
Targets:
▪ 2015 – Cut emissions
20 % from 2005
▪ 2025 – Carbon neutral
Progress:
▪ By 2014, had decreased total annual
emissions from base year by 31 %
How?
✓ Transform city’s energy supply.
- Establish @ 100 wind turbines
- Make district heating carbon neutral
✓ “All municipal plans must ensure the
creation of neighborhoods with minimal
transport and energy requirements”
✓ Reduce emissions to 1.15 M tonnes in 2025
✓ Offset: “Remove as much CO2 as we
produce” – Invest in more windmills
- Plant forests that absorb CO2....

56. 6. What are the Guiding Principles?
56
Sorsogon, Philippines
✓ Community hazard mapping
Balikpapan, Indonesia
(Urban-LEDS Project)
✓ City’s Corporate Social Responsibility
Committee gathered input from
businesses & industries, aims to
leverage private sector funds for low
emission development

57. 6. What are the Guiding Principles?
57
Gorakhpur City, India
Share benefits
✓ Pilot ‘micro-resilience planning’
✓ Complement
city-wide
planning
Shenzhen
Share costs
✓ Carbon trading
✓ “Put a price on carbon”
✓ Involved 637 key enterprises to
control CO2 emissions
✓ Co-benefit: AQ improvement

58. 6. What are the Guiding Principles?
58
Ho Chi Minh City
Horizontal integration
✓ Action:
preserve
mangrove
forests in
neighboring
provinces
Semarang, Indonesia
Vertical integration
✓ City plan aligns with Indonesia
climate change (CC) Roadmap
✓ Seek funding via national
budget, CC Trust Fund

59. 6. What are the Guiding Principles?
59
Tshwane, S. Africa
✓ “Food & Energy Centre demonstrates
multiple co-benefits: sustainable livelihoods,
food sovereignity, renewable energy,
rainwater harvesting, poverty reduction,
skills development, & entrepreneurship”
Quito
✓ “The sustainability mobility action will create
2,200 temp & 1,155 full time jobs”
Shenzhen
✓ Improve air quality while reducing GHG
emissions
Copenhagen
✓ “We see climate as an opportunity for
making Copenhagen even more attractive”

60. 6. What are the Guiding Principles?
60
Ho Chi Minh City
Many
priority
actions
identified
as:
✓ No regret – justified under
all plausible scenarios
✓ Win-win – co-benefits
✓ Increase flexibility –
measures that are reversible
or can later be adjusted…
keep options open

61. 6. What are the Guiding Principles?
61
Quito
Inadequate housing on steep
slopes prone to landslides
✓ Established Panel on Climate
Change – commission
scientific studies by experts &
scientists to better understand
impacts of climate change
✓ Complement bottom-up info

62. 6. What are the Guiding Principles?
62
Chicago
✓ Annual
public
reports
on-line
Tshwane, S. Africa
4x/yr. report to mayor on progress:
✓ 20 MW solar farm
✓ Retrofit street lights
✓ Biomass powered electricity
✓ Buses to be fueled by compressed
natural gas from Food & Energy
Centre

63. 7. Conclusions
63
A. Regarding urban climate action, the major global
agendas of 2015 & 2016 are mutually reinforcing

64. 64
7. Conclusions
B. Truly effective urban climate policies in a number of sectors –
✓ ecosystem-based adaptation,
✓ sustainable transportation,
✓ solid waste management,
✓ renewable energy,
✓ urban food chains –
transcend municipal boundaries & require a city-regional approach.
This may involve municipal cooperation – “horizontal integration”.
In some cases a ‘city-region’
may cross an international
boundary.

65. 65
7. Conclusions
C. The Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy
encourages cities to take climate action in a manner consistent with
national level reporting.
It has the potential to be the most important global initiative to
encourage ambitious urban climate action.

66. 66
7. Conclusions
D. Effective city-level climate action also requires "vertical
integration"
From national to local level – -
Empower local action
- Provide enabling framework,
resources, standards, etc.
From local to national level -
- "MRV" reporting of climate results
suitable to include in NDC reporting

67. World Urban Forum 9, Kuala Lumpur
67
Theme: Cities 2030, Cities for All: Implementing the New Urban Agenda

68. 68
THANK YOU!
Raf.Tuts@unhabitat.org