From Global Issues to Local Priorities: The role of Cities in the Global Agenda, including Cities for Sustainable Development, Food Security, Nutrition and Climate Change

– As delivered –

Statement by H.E. Mrs. María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, President of the 73^rd Session of the UN General Assembly

19 February 2019

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen:

I am honored to give a warm welcome to the Mayors of Quito, Nairobi, Praia and Valencia, the Mayoress of Surabaya, the Commissioner of International Affairs of the City of New York, the Secretary General of United Cities and Local Governments and the Professor of Urban Research and Education of the University of Pennsylvania.

Your presence will contribute to amplify the growing role of Local Governments in the fulfillment of Global Agendas, particularly the 2030 Agenda.

I am also pleased to share this podium with my friend, José Graziano da Silva, General Director of FAO, who I wish to thank for his extraordinary support in the organization of this event, and Mrs. Maimunah Mohd Sharif, Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, who has also joined us in this initiative.

In this regard, I will highlight four elements that I consider to be increasingly relevant:  

Firstly, in Goal 11 of the 2030 Agenda, local Governments are directly linked to the efforts to succeed in making “cities and urban settlements more inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.” At the same time, they also have an influence in the ability to deliver on the other Goals of the Agenda.

It is encouraging to see some examples in which the Mayors have adopted the implementation of the 2030 Agenda as part of their development plans and their urban planning. I highlight New York, this beautiful city that houses the headquarters of our organization and that was the first city of the world to report on the progress made to deliver on the goals of the 2030 Agenda during the High Level Political Forum last July, which proves its commitment with this global agenda.

Secondly, the New Urban Agenda, agreed on the Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development, Habitat III, held in Quito, was another great achievement for multilateralism.

The New Urban Agenda meant a paradigm shift, laying out a long-term roadmap to achieve a transforming, sustainable and inclusive urban development, under the central principle of leaving no one behind. This agreement is, in fact, the main link between our Organization and local governments.

For the first time, local Governments participated to build a United Nations statement on sustainable urban development, which proves that our organization is open to listen and include the voice and guidance of all those who are decision-makers and are closest to people.

Thirdly, local governments have a major role in achieving the commitments established in the Paris Agreement. Cities significantly impact climate change. Urban centers are calculated to account for approximately two thirds of the demand of primary energy and produce 70% of the global carbon dioxide emissions.

Having more than half of the population living in these urban areas also implies more pollution and environmental deterioration.

The amount of urban solid residues vastly exceeds the capabilities of most cities to manage them. This creates a serious environmental sustainability problem.  

In this scenario, we are optimistic in the commitments of the authorities of several cities to reduce CO2 emissions and improve energy efficiency. Faced with the difficulties at the international level, local governments are the ones who have taken over the leaderships needed to drive this important agenda.

The High Level Meeting on Climate and Sustainable Development for All, which will be held on 28th March, and the Climate Action Summit on 23rd September, will also offer us the opportunity to address the role of cities in its entirety. 

Fourthly, I am pleased to announce that we will address the coordinated efforts of the Mayors of several cities in this session, including the ones that are here with us today, with the support of FAO, to achieve Goal 2 of the Sustainable Development Agenda, which seeks to end hunger and ensure food security, fight malnutrition and waste of foodstuffs. This is, without a doubt, a vital initiative.

We are pleased to see that the networking work of local Governments such as UCLG has become stronger, or new initiatives such as Urban 20 who, along with important world leaders, show that the voice of cities is becoming increasingly heard and appreciated to design global agendas and to locally execute SDGs, the Paris Agreements and the Urban Agenda, as a fundamental contribution to solve the most important global challenges that our world faces today.

In summary, the relationship between climate change, food security and urban action is central to deliver on the 2030 Agenda and this is what encourages this space for dialogue and exchange.

What is the link between cities, peri-urban spaces and rural areas? How do we promote the availability of nutritious food in all stages of life? How can we encourage efficient commercialization and distribution channels and at the same time face the -public health- challenge of ultra-processed foods?

Excellencies, friends,

Let us continue to create greater synergies with Mayors and local Governments to provide both content and implementation for the commitments that have been adopted; they are capable of transforming the normative work and policy design of our General Assembly into local practices and responses that have a direct impact in the lives of people and bring the UN close to the people we serve, to make it more relevant.

A better, more sustainable and inclusive future for all is possible if we optimize the relationships and the coordination between National Governments and local Governments. Local Governments can and must be the agents for the transformations that we need.

I hope that this exchange is fruitful and allows us to enhance the contributions of cities to the agenda of our Organization.

Thank you.