84 days until Rio+20: making sure cities are on the agenda

March 28, 2012

On the road to the UN Conference on Sustainable Development, better known as Rio+20, the final sprint has begun.

ICLEI, in its role as Co-organizing Partner for the Local Authority Major Group, was at the meetings preparing for Rio+20 in New York last week, holding up the flag of cities and local governments. ICLEI's Susanne Salz was present in New York this past week to advocate for cities and open doors for the future.

How are the negotiations on the Rio+20 outcome document going?

UN Member States are intensely negotiating each paragraph of the proposed outcome document. As the document is being negotiated, the paragraphs on cities, urban issues and local governments have also received many amendments. Many delegates agree that cities and local governments have an important role to play in achieving sustainable development. ICLEI, together with UCLG and nrg4SD, is putting much effort into ensuring that cities and local governments will be engaged and that the issues they are concerned with are being heard and appropriately reflected.

What have we been doing to represent cities?

We attended side meetings, had bilateral meetings and got involved in informal conversations with many stakeholders and negotiators, such as UN-Habitat, UN DESA, Stakeholder Forum, nrg4SD, UCLG and several national delegations. There was also a high-level meeting between civil society and the new UN Secretary General high-level group on sustainable energy for all, to which 20 civil society representatives had been invited.

As part of the official negotiation process on the Rio+20 outcome document, Major Groups had the chance to meet with:

The Executive Coordinators of Rio+20, Brice Lalonde and Liz Thompson, and Brazilian Ambassador Andre de Lago.
The Rio+20 Bureau, and also any UN member state wishing to attend.
The EU and its members.

What are cities advocating for?

Institutional Framework for Sustainable Development (IFSD)

For cities and local governments it is important that all three dimensions of sustainable development are being strengthened – social, environmental and economic and their interaction, not just the environmental dimension. Cities are complex urban hubs, and they need to be able to function and deliver services that serve their communities, their businesses and sustain them as places to live for future generations.

A strong IFSD requires full participation of all stakeholders and requires multilevel governance. Based on UNFCCC COP 16's recognition of cities and local governments as "governmental stakeholders", the Local Authority Major Group is urging Rio+20 to build on this recognition. To make sure that cities’ needs and demands are being heard, local authorities should be appropriately included in potential future institutions, and they should be represented in preparatory and implementation processes of sustainable development policies.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Local and subnational governments are ready and have the potential to support the implementation of SDGs. The Local Authority Major Group welcomes the current proposal to adopt a SDG on sustainable cities, and at the same time urges member states to recognize that cities, local and subnational governments are key to the implementation of several other possible SDGs.

Urban economies are a core part of the global transition to a green and inclusive economy. Local and subnational governments also develop and implement basic service provisions such as waste management, access to water and sanitation, access to energy and transport. They are key players in delivering sustainable outcomes that serve their communities.

Beyond GDP

The Local Authority Major Group supports adopting new indicators of well-being going beyond GDP. Including further relevant factors into such measurements will also help to ensure that humanity can move towards living within planetary boundaries, and that cities will be lively, prosperous, healthy places to live.

Find out more about ICLEI’s work for cities and local authorities towards Rio+20 at www.iclei.org/local2012