(ANTALYA, November 13) — Antalya, an ancient city on the Mediterranean coast, once again took the global spotlight today. On November 13, as the 31st United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP31) entered its fifth day, the 21st Annual Session of the Global Forum on Human Settlements and New Sustainable Cities and Human Settlements Awards Ceremony (GFHS2026) was held in the city. Under the theme “Resilient Cities, Just Transition: Empowering the Implementation Era of Climate Actions”, the forum brought urban momentum and practical action plans to COP31. More than 300 representatives from over 50 countries attended, and 11 exemplary initiatives received the New Sustainable Cities and Human Settlements Awards (New SCAHSA).

Addresses were delivered by Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury, Chairman of GFHS and former United Nations Under-Secretary-General and High Representative; Ambassador Peter Thomson, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Ocean; Dr. Diana Ürge-Vorsatz, Vice Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change; Stewart Maginnis, Deputy Director General, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), as well as senior officials from United Nations Centre for Regional Development under the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNCRD/UNDESA), United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), Pan-African Agency of the Great Green Wall (PAGGW), and European Committee of the Regions (CoR). Urban leaders from Santiago de Cali, Colombia; Putrajaya, Malaysia; Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Dubrovnik, Croatia; and Shenzhen, Zhangzhou and Changting County, China, shared successful experience in innovation-led transformation and sustainable development.

Participants, experts and scholars engaged in in-depth discussions on the theme and a range of key issues, offering science-based policy recommendations and practical solutions. The forum emphasized that global climate action has entered an “era of implementation”. As critical front lines for delivering climate action and advancing sustainable development, cities must demonstrate greater innovation and leadership, unite stakeholders across society, align global agendas, harness science and technology, and advance measurable and verifiable action, while ensuring that a just transition benefits vulnerable groups.

Ambassador Peter Thomson, UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Ocean, observed that source-to-sea pollution encompasses land-based waste, agricultural run-off and industrial discharge carried to the ocean by rivers, streams and urban drainage systems. Controlling it requires a combination of upstream prevention and downstream capture. Ocean-climate action must carry with it the principle of a just transition. Coastal peoples, small-scale fishing communities, and tourism-dependent indigenous groups must be participants and beneficiaries of the sustainable blue economy.

Dr. Diana Ürge-Vorsatz, Vice Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, emphasized that accelerating renewable energy delivers greater absolute emission reductions when paired with curbing energy and material demand growth while raising well-being. The urgency is particularly great in rapidly urbanising regions where much of tomorrow's urban infrastructure is being built today, so inclusive governance engaging informal communities is essential to avoid locking in poverty, high emissions and climate vulnerability. Delaying action is costly: the IPCC finds that postponing climate-resilient infrastructure investment by just ten years could add at least USD 1 trillion to costs, beyond the losses and damages from inaction.

Hon. Maciu Katamotu Nalumisa, Minister for Housing and Local Government, Republic of Fiji stated that the theme of GFHS 2026—Empowering the Implementation Era of Climate Actions—is Fiji's challenge exactly. We do not need another generation of plans on paper. We need to finance safer locations, resilient infrastructure and services that communities can see.

Dario Liguti, Director, Energy, Housing and Land Management Division, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe shared that strengthening multilevel governance requires systematic integration of agile principles to enable feedback, embed foresight and AI, reinforce fiscal autonomy and capacity, safeguard city diplomacy, and foster genuine co-creation with civil society. The Global Forum on Human Settlements offers a unique opportunity to shape the cities of tomorrow.

The planet is running a fever. The normalization of extreme weather and the crises it triggers—such as deadly typhoons, floods, heatwaves, wildfires, and mudslides afflicting many countries—are increasingly threatening our health, prosperity and daily lives. Strengthening urban resilience and adaptive capacity is therefore an urgent priority. According to UN projections, without effective action, global temperatures will rise by approximately 2.6°C by 2100, while global sea levels will rise by more than 60 centimetres, rendering many coastal areas unsuitable for habitation.

Experts at the forum recommended making science-based meteorological and disaster early-warning systems universally available worldwide and improving the accuracy of climate forecasting; adopting polycentric, compact and mixed-use urban planning and developing decentralized infrastructure; and cooling cities and mitigating flooding through carefully designed open spaces with an appropriate balance of interconnected green spaces and water bodies. They also called for the widespread deployment of distributed renewable energy and energy storage, an increase in net-zero-carbon demonstration projects, and the transformation of buildings into electricity producers. Buildings and infrastructure should incorporate stronger provisions for shading, thermal insulation, protection against wind, rain and flood, and emergency shelter. Greater use should also be made of nature-based solutions, while drawing on Indigenous peoples’ traditional ways of life and intangible cultural heritage to address climate risks.

The report released by the UN Environment Programme ahead of the conference noted that if we reduce greenhouse gas emissions urgently and rigorously, we can minimize peak warming and return to 1.5°C by the end of this century. This is achievable. The forum called on cities to integrate the Sustainable Development Goals with climate objectives, make greater use of demand-side solutions in implementing climate action, and pursue synergies. Demand-side solutions directly influence consumption behaviour and can deliver both rapid and sustained emissions reductions. They can address the root causes of the climate crisis while improving basic services, residents’ well-being and urban liveability. Specific actions include cooling without reliance on air conditioning, improving building energy efficiency, promoting green mobility, and recycling and recovering resources from waste—all of which offer significant co-benefits.

As an important international platform for sustainable cities during COP31, this year’s annual session brought together the collective resolve and capacity of cities worldwide and shared replicable practical solutions, applicable technologies, and action plans—including the "300 Million Solar Homes" initiative to double global rooftop solar capacity within the next four years—and urged cities worldwide to exercise leadership by taking the lead in rapid, deep, and sustained greenhouse gas emissions reductions. It also called on national and local governments, businesses and all sectors of society to strengthen cooperation and innovation, deeply integrate local action with global collaboration, help close the global climate action implementation gap, and build a more resilient, equitable and sustainable urban future.

Awarders and Awardees at 2026 New Sustainable Cities and Human Settlements
Awards Ceremony, Antalya, Türkiye

One of the most anticipated highlights of the annual session was New Sustainable Cities and Human Settlements Awards Ceremony, known as New SCAHSA. Recognized as a leading global award for a sustainable urban future, the awards honour projects demonstrating outstanding innovation and leadership in sustainable cities and climate action, while promoting their progressive policies, innovative technologies and successful experience. This year saw further improvements in the quality of submissions and the influence of award recipients, alongside significantly stronger competition. GFHS Secretariat received more than 300 applications from around the world. Following a rigorous jury review, only 28 entries across 10 categories were shortlisted, with 11 ultimately receiving the awards.

Award recipients included Nanshan District, Shenzhen, Zhangzhou Ancient City, Fujian, Dingwuling Hakka Mountain Village in Changting County, China; Putrajaya, Malaysia; Dubai Municipality, UAE; Cali, Colombia; the Bullitt Center in Seattle, United States; Esna, Egypt; and Amazon Institute of People and the Environment (Imazon), Brazil, among others. These exemplary initiatives demonstrated outstanding achievements in green and smart cities, sustainable cultural heritage, urban renewal and leadership, offering replicable and scalable experience for green and just urban transitions worldwide. From the green transformation and innovation-driven development of Shenzhen’s densely built-up central district of Nanshan, to the conservation and revitalization of cultural heritage in the ancient village of Dingwuling in Changting County; from Cali’s integrated approach to biodiversity conservation, climate adaptation, social inclusion and sustainable economic development, to the Bullitt Center’s successful market-based model for a zero-carbon building in Seattle—combining net-positive energy performance, water self-sufficiency, non-toxic materials and a welcoming public environment—each award-winning initiative offered inspiration, momentum and practical approaches for the implementation era of climate action.

The organizers noted that GFHS has held its annual sessions for 21 consecutive years at United Nations Headquarters and across five continents, consistently advancing sustainable cities and human settlements for all. As an organization in consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council and an observer to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, GFHS will continue to serve as a high-level global platform for dialogue and cooperation on sustainable cities. It will promote the coordinated implementation of global agendas at the local level, pool technology, data, and best practices, inspire innovation and leadership, and contribute to achieving the goal of returning to 1.5°C by the end of this century.