WCD in Luxor reccommendations: Int'l community should deal with climate with same urgency as COVID-19

CAIRO - 1 November 2021: A celebration organized in Luxor by the United Nations Human Settlements Program (UN-Habitat) and Egypt's Local Development Ministry on the occasion of the World Cities Day concluded Sunday on a number of recommendations to safeguard Arab world, in terms of well-governed urbanization and climate consideration.

This is considered the first Global Observance of World Cities Day (WCD) in the Middle East and North Africa region, where participants included the Egyptian Prime Minister, heads of UN agencies, mayors, ministers, a goodwill ambassador and youth representative.

Several panel sessions were organized during the event, stressing that climate consideration should be included in the urban planning process, and urging the international community to deal with climate change with the same urgency and focus as what has been done with as covid-19 to achieve rapid. 

Among the closing remarks, organizers assured that "cities are perfect places for creativity and innovation we need to take advantage of that, Covid19 showcased that through the creative ways that were created to face the pandemic, currently more than 700 hundred cities have pledged to achieve the net zero emissions target."

"Well governed Urbanization is the cornerstone for mitigating the negative effects of climate change Bottom up and top bottom approach should be implemented in order to ensure that all solutions are responsive, implementable and actionable," they added. 

Below are the recommendations of the event to safeguard the Arab World:

•       Commit to a healthy, green and just recovery from COVID-19.

•       Make COP26 the ‘Health COP’, placing health and social justice at the heart of discussions.

•       Prioritize climate interventions with the largest health-, social- and economic gains.

•       Build climate resilient health systems, and support health adaptation across sectors.

•       Make sure that mitigation plans are included

•       Transition to renewable energy is a must

•       Promote sustainable, healthy urban design and transport systems.

•       Engaging the private sector is very important

•       Investing in nature-based solutions and innovative business models and green financing is an important key

•       Redesign infrastructure so that it has a renewable energy focus

The celebration is attended by UN‐Habitat Executive Director Maimunah Mohd Sharif, Local Development Minister Mahmoud Sharaawy, Housing Minister Assem el Gazzar and representatives of UN agencies, development partners, private sector, NGOs and academic institutions.

The theme for World Cities Day 2021 is "Adapting Cities for Climate Resilience" reflecting the fact that climate change will have a huge impact on city residents with hundreds of millions of them experiencing floods, rising sea levels, storms and increasing periods of extreme temperatures.

World Cities Day was established in 2013 by the United Nations General Assembly. The first World Cities Day was held in October 2014.