Dates: 24-27 January 2022
Place: Online
The UN Office for Sustainable Development and UNCRD organized the International Mayors Forum 2021-2022 online on 24-27 January 2022 to provide a platform for policy dialogue and knowledge sharing through presentations and discussions on key aspects related to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals - particularly Goal 11 -, and other international frameworks and agreement such as the Paris Agreement at local level as a means to achieve a better understanding of progress, gaps, challenges, lessons learnt and specific mechanisms that can accelerate the sustained transformation needed to make societies inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.
The Forum consisted of several interrelated modules, each covering concepts and issues of Agenda 2030, the SDGs and their interlinkages with and other internationally agreed agendas. Director Endo delivered the following presentations:
- Capacity Building Programme for Implementation of Smart Cities for Inclusive and Sustainable Society in the Post-COVID-19 Pandemic Era; and
- Water-related Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change
He introduced UNCRD's new capacity training prgramme for building smart cities for inclusive and sustainable society in the post-COVID-19 pandemic era and also activities of the High-Level Experts and Leaders Panel on Water and Disasters (HELP), with focus on its "Principles to Address Water-related Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) under the COVID-19 Pandemic," stressing the importance of water-related disaster preparedness with care coordination of different stakeholders, which would contribute to the early recovery from the COVID-19.
In the presentation of city case studies, Yokohama City, Japan presented its "Voluntary Local Review (VLR) Voluntary Local Review 2021 Yokohama, Japan, which was released in 2021. Following Hon. Mayor Takeharu Yamanaka's message, Mr. Akaoka, Director General for Global Network explained in details about VLR, including Yokohama City's institutional mechanism, structural issues, goal setting and progress review, priority issues and efforts to address them in order to promote the SDGs, while mentioning the importance of VLR as a process to manage city-level SDG progress as well as a communication tool with other stakeholders in the city and. Finally, He expressed his hope to exchange experiences on SDG implementation with cities around the world through VLRs.
From Thailand, Mr. Sopon Pisuttiwong, Deputy Governor of Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA), made a presentation on "Planning for a greener and more resilient Bangkok. First he analyzed the positive and negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and expressed concern about the rapid increasing disposal of infectious waste and single-use plastic containers and bags for food delivery and takeout, while stressing the importance of more harmless and biodegradable disinfectants to be developed. As for climate change countermeasures, he emphasized the benefits of urban greening and its policy to promote urban greenery, mentioning that the green space per capita in BMA is still below the World Health Organization's recommended standard (9 square meters per capita).
Mayors, leaders and representatives of local governments from developed and developing countries discussed their experiences, lessons learned, and good practices of SDGs implementation at the local and regional levels while experts from around the world provided knowledge and tools to help local actors make a contribution to achieve the Common Agendas. More than 100 participants from around the world joined virtually each time and interacted with speakers and presenters through Q&A sessions to identify potential solutions for sustainable responses.
Presentation videos and materials