The First World Congress on City Adaptation
to Climate Change Concluded with Declaration
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The first world congress on adaptation of cities to the impacts of climate change Resilient Cities 2010 concluded with the adoption of the Bonn Declaration of the Mayors Adaptation Forum 2010. The event lasted three days during which 500 representatives of cities all over the world discussed and exchanged experience on topics of urban adaptation to climate change. In an address to the congress participants, Yvo de Boer executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change highlighted the important opportunity that cities offer to develop adaptation and mitigation win-win initiatives. |
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The final declaration adopted by all the Mayors presented at the Congress includes 10 action points. Through the Bonn Declaration on Adaptation, the mayors commit themselves to safeguard the urban poor from the effects of climate change, to press for greater local government involvement in international climate proceedings and to allot more funds to cities climate adaptation.
Furthermore, the mayors set out a local leader's roadmap for climate adaptation preceding the UN Climate Talks (COP16) in Cancún, Mexico, 29 November – 10 December, 2010. “Our cities are at risk now”, said Marcelo Ebrard, Mayor of Mexico City and chair of the World Mayors Council on Climate Change. “We are losing time, so we are working with other cities in order to have new ideas, new ways to do things faster than in the past. Our Mayors Adaptation Forum is a unique opportunity to discuss a way to get closer to the future we want.”
In his speech Ivo de Boer encouraged the cities and local governments to take inclusive and decisive action as the cities need to be at the forefront of turning policies into action. “We know from past experience that the poor in all countries suffer most from the impacts of climate change. Local authorities are the first these poor people turn to for help -help that local authorities are hard placed to provide without a national and international policy framework” he said. The UNFCCC executive secretary also mentioned a couple of examples of win-win initiatives of the cities such as the collaboration with the local private sector in discovering economically sound measures, development of local cap-and-trade mechanisms, partnerships between urban and rural communities aimed at sustainable use of natural resources.
Resilient Cities 2010 was organized by ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability, the World Mayors Council on Climate Change and the City of Bonn.
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