[Title] Multisectoral Actions Pathways (MAP) to Resilient and Healthy Cities

Background

Despite covering less than 2% of Earth's surface, cities contribute to over two-thirds of global CO2 emissions , making them pivotal actors in tackling the climate crisis. It is predicted that without decisive climate action, urban emissions could more than double by mid-century. This reveals substantial action potential and investment opportunities (of nearly $30 trillion by 2030 ) in cities. Beyond being major contributors to climate change, cities are also highly vulnerable to its effects, necessitating increased financing for urban adaptation to protect over a billion people from extreme climate events by 2050.

Notwithstanding the existence of numerous urban climate initiatives (e.g. Sustainable Urban Resilience for the Next Generation (SURGe), Coalition for High Ambition Multilevel Partnerships (CHAMP), cities continue to struggle with poor creditworthiness, lack of technical expertise and institutional capacity to develop bankable projects, and subsequently securing adequate funding. Additionally, the lack of, or instability of national policies regarding sustainability in urban areas and urban resilience disrupt ongoing initiatives, creating additional barriers to accessing the required financing. Together, these factors contribute to a persistent gap in urban climate action, underscoring the need for multisectoral, multilevel and multistakeholder efforts.

Objective and outcomes

To address the abovementioned issues, the COP29 Presidency is launching the Multisectoral Actions Pathways (MAP) to Resilient and Healthy Cities initiative on the 20th of November, on the Urbanization Day of the COP29. The initiative will exchange in the multisectoral and multilevel stakeholder landscape of urban development, including the public and the private sector, to collaboratively address the challenges toward achieving sustainable, climate resilient and healthy cities, leveraging each sector's opportunities, capabilities, and technical capacities.

These objectives are supported by the following elements of the MAP initiative:

- Adoption of MAP Declaration addressing urban climate issues and shedding light on urban climate solutions which have not been highlighted in previous urban initiatives such as afforestation, early warning systems, urban agriculture, green technology, health equity, etc.

- Organizing the 3rd Ministerial Meeting on Urbanization and Climate to bring ministers of urbanization, city leaders and members of parliaments all around the same table, for the first time, to collectively address urban development issues.

- Organizing four thematic deep-dive roundtables, gathering a diverse range of stakeholders from MDBs, public and private sector, academia, UN Agencies, and other international organizations.

- Launching the Baku Continuity Coalition for Urban Climate Action to create a platform for COP Presidencies to ensure consistency and continuity of the urban climate initiatives and promote the inclusion of urban climate actions in the global agenda.

- Encouraging WUF host countries to appoint a Special Envoy for Urban Climate Action to build linkages between World Urban Forums, UNFCCC COPs, World Environment Days, and other relevant international and regional platforms for dialogue, actions, pledges and initiatives.

COP29 Multisectoral Actions Pathways to Resilient and Healthy Cities Declaration

Declaration on MAP is the main output of the MAP initiative, which highlights the importance of existing work done in cities while drawing attention to additional climate solutions. The Declaration underlines the importance of multisectoral partnership for cities, and the collaboration between local and national governments in advancing urban climate action and finance. Furthermore, the Declaration promotes urban afforestation, green infrastructure and spaces, integrated land use planning and urban agriculture, early warning systems, energy efficiency in cities through green technologies and digital solutions, investments in low-carbon, efficient and resilient buildings and the construction sector, mobilization of climate finance for both urban mitigation and adaptation, etc.

Third Ministerial Meeting on Climate Change and Urbanization

Co-hosted by the COP29 Presidency, the State Committee on Urban Planning and Architecture of the Republic of Azerbaijan, UN-Habitat and United Nations Climate Change High-Level Champion on COP29 with the support of UNEP, ITF, WHO, WMO, FAO, MDBs, MCFs and Bloomberg Philanthropies, the third Ministerial Meeting on Climate Change and Urbanization will kick start with the high-level opening of the COP29 Urbanization Day on 20 November 2024 in Baku, Azerbaijan.

As the upcoming revision of NDCs in 2025 presents a critical opportunity to leverage local action for global goals, there is a need to advance the multisectoral and multilevel discussion, thus the high-level opening will be followed by four thematic high-level roundtables: 1) Green Construction, Energy Efficiency in Buildings and Climate Resilience in Cities; 2) Urban Transport and Infrastructure; 3) Nature, Health and Agriculture in Cities; 4) Urban Climate Finance, bringing together different decision-makers responsible for sustainable urbanization, including Ministers of Environment, Urbanization and Housing, local and subnational leaders, parliamentarians, MDBs, MCFs and other relevant stakeholders.

Baku Continuity Coalition for Urban Climate Action

The Baku Continuity Coalition for Urban Climate Action, launching at COP29, aims to create a Coalition for COP Presidencies to cooperate and strengthen the integration of urban climate action in the global climate agenda, bringing deeper focus on addressing climate issues in cities, and catalysing financial resources for cities. Consisted of previous, existing and future COP Presidencies, facilitated by UN-Habitat, this Coalition aims to encourage collaboration in accelerating the discourse on urban climate issues, engage with COP Presidencies to include urban climate action in COP agenda, discuss the implementation of existing urban and climate initiatives. The first gathering to be held at the 13th World Urban Forum in Baku in 2026 to showcase the progress in urban climate work highlighting key needs, and challenges, and sharing best practices.

WUF Special Envoy for Urban Climate Action

MAP encourages WUF host countries, starting with Azerbaijan – the host of the 13th WUF in 2026, to appoint a Special Envoy for Urban Climate Action who can foster linkages between existing and future urban climate initiatives, including WUFs, UNFCCC COPs and World Environment Days, and strengthen cooperation between diverse sectors. The Special Envoy will foster multisectoral engagement and advocacy for urban climate efforts while motivating knowledge exchange and rallying state and non-state actors to showcase ambition.

The COP29 has developed this initiative in partnership with the UN Habitat and with the support of other relevant UN agencies.