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Category: News

Advocate of the UN Forum of Mayors Lord Foster tells mayors to “THINK BIG!”

The 4th Forum of Mayors titled the Cities’ Summit of the Future concluded with great success. It brought together around 400 participants – including more than 50 mayors – from cities and member States from all over the world, various UN entities, other intergovernmental organizations, as well as NGOs and academia. The Forum is in full expansion and its further development will consolidate it as a prime example of inclusive multilateralism where all levels of government collaborate to build a better future for all and leave no one and no place behind.

4th UN Forum of Mayors: Side Event Addresses Solutions for the Triple Planetary Crisis

At the margin of the 4th UN Forum of Mayors, a key side event titled “Solutions for the Triple Planetary Crisis” convened city leaders, UN representatives, and IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature)  experts to tackle the urgent challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. The event underscored the importance of leveraging expertise …

GCH highlights cities’ role at ‘Toxics, zero waste and human rights’ event

During the 57th session of the Human Rights Council, at the event titled “Toxics, Zero Waste, Women, and Human Rights,” the Global Cities Hub emphasized the crucial role of local and regional governments in addressing waste management and inclusiveness policies. The Hub advocated for greater cooperation among UN agencies, such as OHCHR and UNEP, to merge human rights mechanisms with environmental expertise. By fostering mixed mandates the UN could address toxins and waste more effectively, ensuring that LRGs can engage more seamlessly in …

Global Digital Compact and the Guidelines on People-Centred Smart Cities

On 10 September 2024 Global Cities Hub contributed to the consultation with LRGs and representatives of city networks to reflect on the Global Digital Compact and opportunities for its implementation by local actors, while leveraging the first International Guidelines on People-Centred Smart Cities. When international regulations are created LRGs should not only be formally consulted on policy, but they need to …

Cities at the core of WIPO’s Global Innovation Cluster Index 2024

Innovation is one of the key forces that drive economic growth and social progress. To monitor it, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) publishes annually the Global Innovation Index (GII), which also identifies the world’s top 100 science and technology (S&T) clusters. Year after year, these happen to be cities.  The next GII will be launched on 26 September but …

City diplomacy in action

The 4th Forum of Mayors – the Cities’ Summit of the Future starts in one month on 30 September 2024. It is worth recalling the excellent analysis of Paola Deda published by the Geneva Policy Outlook earlier this year about the participation of Mayors in the work of …

Global Cities Hub supports Joint contribution for INC5 on Plastic Pollution Treaty

The Global Cities Hub will participate in an upcoming webinar hosted by the Local and Subnational Governments Coalition for the Plastic Pollution Treaty (LSNG). This webinar, the second of its kind, (17th July 2023) aims at informing local and subnational governments on the activities of the Coalition and will feature the possibility to join as …

We should carve out a bigger space for LRGs in global decision-making

In a recently published WEF Agenda Post GCH argues that LRGs can be agile partners with the capacity to respond quickly in times of economic, health or environmental crisis. Their actions can complement and extend the actions of central governments. They can also help deliver key global goals, such as the SDGs or the Paris …