Cities have proved to be “ground zero” the world over for the COVID-19 pandemic, the UN chief said on Tuesday, encouraging leaders everywhere to “rethink and reshape the urban world” as we recover.
A recap of Wednesday's top stories: Guterres previews next week's summit agenda; UN and Red Cross appeal to eliminate urban warfare; South Sudan's one-year peace progress report; Cameroon renews call for 'durable peace'; Cities both helping and hurting, when it comes to climate change action.
Buildings can play a “transformative” role in fighting climate change in cities, according to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).
Experts from around the world are currently meeting in Marrakech, Morocco, at the COP22 conference, which is looking at how to turn the goal of keeping global temperature rises to below 2 degrees Celsius into a reality.
Preparing cities to better respond to humanitarian crises is vital in this day and age when more and more migrants and refugees are seeking sanctuary in urban areas.
That’s the view of Aisa Kacyira, Deputy Executive Director of UN Habitat, the UN agency which supports sustainable urban development.
The issue surrounding displacement in urban areas will be one among many discussed at the World Humanitarian Summit in May.
