2020•09•14     Bonn, Germany

Photo: Unsplash / Nazarizal Mohammad

UNU-EHS is serving as the main research partner for Daring Cities 2020, an action-oriented forum, designed to empower urban leaders to tackle the climate crisis. The conference is organized by Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI) and the City of Bonn. It will take place virtually 7 – 28 October 2020.

The forum is directed at mayors, city councilors, administrators, and urban thought leaders, as well as researchers, technical staff, business leaders, civil society decision-makers, community organizers and national government representatives. It seeks to showcase and catalyze exemplary local climate action, including ambitious resilience-building and climate mitigation efforts. Over a three-week period, the event will offer a variety of virtual formats to accommodate different topics, time zones, bandwidth limits, and languages.

As part of the “KNOW” track of the conference, experts from UNU-EHS will present cutting-edge research and information on climate change and its impact on cities. The conference further includes an “ACT” track, which showcases daring local climate action, and a “LEAD” track, which seeks to facilitate action-oriented discussions with key global partners, including the UNFCCC and COP Presidencies, on delivering the Paris Agreement through collaborative, multilevel action, while highlighting implementation and finance.

The event will integrate multi-level dialogue, bringing together local leaders and national actors. It includes many high-level speakers, including António Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General, Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary, United Nations Climate Change Secretariat (UNFCCC), and high-ranking politicians from several counties, such as the German Federal Minister for the Environment, Svenja Schulze. The full programme can be found here.

Participation in the forum is free of charge. Participants are asked to register here.

UNU-EHS and ICLEI, a global network of more than 1,750 local and regional governments committed to sustainable urban development, recently formed a partnership to advance evidence-based research on sustainability and urban issues.