GFHS
Committed to Sustainable Cities and Human Settlements for All
In Special Consultative Status with ECOSOC
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GFHS-2024
CONTEXT
The world is getting increasingly politically divided, socially polarized, economically insecure, culturally estranged and environmentally unsustainable, which extends a resounding call for collaborative leadership, groundbreaking innovation and collective action towards an inclusive, resilient and sustainable future for all.
On an urban planet, cities are a primary arena to deliver sustainable development and cope with climate change impacts. Cities are where nature-positive pathways can create trillions of business opportunities by 2030. Urban areas are the places in which the greatest progress can be made to resolve the above-mentioned issues of our ill-system, to rescue the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and accelerate the transition sustainability for people, for the planet and for prosperity by 2030.
Specifically, in the course of addressing the multiple crises and challenges as well as meeting the SDGs and the climate goal, innovation plays a fundamental role. It has shaped and will continue to reshape our cities and human settlements. Major leading technologies represented by digital technologies, most notably AI and Internet, as well as new resource and energy technologies are and will greatly spur innovation in various sectors and transform the world. Integrated innovation which not only focuses on technologies, but also on governance, business models, processes, and financing, among others, is becoming essential. Meanwhile, innovation starts generally locally and can fuel greater efficiency, lower costs, and better quality of life for all, through replication, acceleration and scaling.
Local leaders are an untapped power to be unleashed. UN Secretary-General António Guterres stressed that: “the role of local power can even be more important than national power in multiple ways. As we consider ways to make multilateral institutions more effective, and to meet the current and future challenges facing people and planet, we need the perspectives and engagement of local and regional authorities. SDGs can only be reached if they are reached at each of the different municipalities.”
Forward-looking local governments and city leaders are uniquely positioned to harness the power of integrated innovation to improve governance and enhance livability, resilience, prosperity and sustainability of cities and communities through a) accelerating decoupling and decarbonization in a coordinated manner, b) creating people-oriented and pedestrian friendly public spaces, c) experimenting zero-carbon and zero-waste strategy and technology in the major sectors, and d) scaling up nature-positive strategies and solutions.
In the meantime, Summit of the Future 2024 will be held by the United Nations on 22-23 September in New York to forge a new global consensus on what our future should look like, and what we can do today to secure a better tomorrow. In this important context, the 19th Annual Session of Global Forum on Human Settlements--one of the most important conferences worldwide focusing on sustainable cities and human settlements--will take place in New York City on October 24, 2024, while celebrating the World Cities Day 2024. The theme for this session is “Invigorate Innovation and Local Leadership for a Sustainable Urban Future”.
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