Moscow Participates in Urban 20 Mayors’ Summit — Urban20

Photo: official website of Urban20

Moscow took part in the annual Urban 20 (U20) meeting of mayors of major cities. The event was traditionally supported by the C40 Cities Climate Partnership, of which Moscow has been a member since 2006.

The U20 Summit precedes the global summit of the Group of Twenty (G20). The main purpose is to present to the G20 heads of state a Communiqué reflecting the common position of megacities on important urban development issues, including action on climate change, social inclusion, and sustainable development and economic growth.

This year’s meeting was held behind closed doors and chaired by Jakarta, Indonesia. More than 20 mayors, vice mayors and sherpas of cities around the world (Jakarta, Rome, Milan, Helsinki, Paris, Lisbon, Los Angeles, Mumbai, Rotterdam, Tokyo, Sydney, Riyard and others) participated to discuss the challenges included in Communiqué 2022.

Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan opened the meeting. He highlighted the need to cooperate with national governments, especially on environmental issues, as an important objective of the Communiqué. “A priority issue is the development of environmentally friendly modes of public transport — as one of the ways to combat climate change, which requires support at the national level,” said the Jakarta representative.

Moscow follows the same priorities. Urban public transport is gradually phasing out hydrocarbon fuels, with more than 1,000 electric buses already running on city streets, and by 2025 the capital plans to completely abandon internal combustion engine buses on city routes.

In addition to greening the transport sector, U20 city leaders highlighted the important role of preserving the natural environment in urban areas to achieve climate change objectives.

In a statement, Mumbai (India) Mayor Singh Sahal said: “About 16% of the city’s area is covered by a protected forest. The local authorities have banned the logging of mangroves and the areas where they are located have been given national park status”.

With the intensive development of the city, Moscow preserves its natural heritage and maintains its Red Book. Now 50% of the city’s territory is green spaces where residents spend their leisure time, as well as habitat for more than 500 species of animals and plants protected by law.

As the Moscow Department of Nature Management and Environmental Protection states: “Conservation and restoration of nature, preservation of biodiversity is a key solution in the fight against climate change. This is especially relevant for megacities, where natural areas create a special microclimate and level out the urban heat island”.

After all the speeches by city representatives, the moderator of the event, United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) International Secretary General Emilia Saiz announced that after December 2022, Indonesia will hand over the chairmanship role in the U20 to India.

The Communiqué will continue the discussion on new challenges and achievements at the next U20 Summit in Ahmedabad, India.

Traditionally, the closed meeting of mayors concluded with the handing over of the Communiqué to the representative of the national government — the Indonesian Minister of Economy, Head of the Indonesian G20 Co-Chairs’ Office, Airlangge Hartarto.

Moscow supports the message of Communiqué 2022 in terms of cities taking comprehensive measures to curb the rise in global temperatures and will continue to actively participate in shaping the global agenda in subsequent meetings of the Leading Cities.

Key goals for cities of the world stated at the summit:

The main priorities voiced by cities at this year’s U20 were: reducing greenhouse gas emissions, reducing the negative impact on air and water bodies by switching to renewable energy, modernising the waste management system, developing green building and electrifying public transport. The outcome is carbon neutrality by 2050.

Cover photo: Wikimedia Commons