C40 Chair, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Mayor Eduardo Paes recently delivered a letter to the United Nation’s Open Working Group (OWG) on Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) with the following requests:
· Requesting a specific SDG focused on cities and their ability to deliver significant reductions in GHG emissions, and
· Continue to make the case for greater emphasis on urban sustainability and climate protection in the international sustainability conversation.
During the closing plenary on Thursday 6 February of the C40 Summit, Mayor Paes will be presenting this letter to UN Habitat’s Executive Director Joan Clos. Thirty nine C40 Mayors have signed the petition, demonstrating a steadfast commitment to ensuring local leaders have a voice on the international stage to ensure to ensure a sustainable future globally – this is a key priority for Mayor Paes’ term as C40 Chairperson.
The New Sustainability Development Goals will come into effect upon the expiration of the Millennium Development Goals(adopted in 2000 and covering the 15years until 2015) and cover the next 15 years from 2015 – 2030.
The letter joins a campaign of over 200 cities, regional governments and international organizations supporting an urban goal. All of this comes at the backdrop the latest statistics: Half of the world’s population lives in cities and by 2050 that proportion will rise to 70%. The populations, economic activity and development of cities offer a major sustainable development opportunity.
For more information: visit – http://urbansdg.org/