Brics+ Urban Climate Agenda Report - Flagship Initiative for a More Sustainable World

This session will present the BRICS Urban Climate Agenda Report – a comprehensive study evaluating the effectiveness of climate mitigation measures implemented by major cities within the BRICS nations.

Nicholas You

Moderator

November 5, 2024 | 13:00 - 14:30

Voices from Cities - room C

The Government of Moscow

Russian Federation

English, Russian, Spanish

Reference:

VC-C 3

WUF12

Voices from Cities

Summary

Cities are on the frontline of climate action. Through initiatives in renewable energy, sustainable transportation, green infrastructure, energy-efficiency and waste management, cities can lead the transition towards a low-carbon future.
Rapid urbanization and economic growth in BRICS countries have led to increased greenhouse gas emissions, making climate policy a critical concern for their cities. Balancing economic development with environmental sustainability presents both challenges and opportunities that are unique to these urban landscapes.

The session is organized jointly with the Guangzhou Institute for Urban Innovation and is designed as a facilitated and interactive knowledge exchange platform. The scenario of the session is proposed to be as follows.
• Introduction: Presentation of the BRICS+ Urban Climate Agenda Report and its methodology by the Moscow City Government (10 minutes).
• Voices from cities: Up to four BRICS+ cities (TBC) will present the lessons learned from their respective assessments (40 minutes).
• Voices from stakeholders: up to three experts from stakeholder groups will join the four cities and ask each of the cities one question before opening the floor to Q&A (20 minutes).
• Conclusion: prospects for global city-to-city cooperation on the urban climate agenda and next steps (10 minutes).
• Questions and answers (10 minutes).
The list of panelists enclosed to the application is pending and is to be further confirmed (in particular with respect to the participating representatives of cities).

Objectives

This session emphasizes the critical role of cities in the global climate agenda and seeks to foster dialogue on how urban centers in the BRICS countries can lead the way in sustainability efforts. In this context, the following objectives are set:
• To present the Urban Climate Agenda Report as a tool for assessing the efficiency of the local governments’ climate policies, as well as for designing future policies and strategies (as exemplified by the major BRICS+ cities, while having potential to be universally utilized elsewhere)
• To launch a knowledge-sharing platform for the BRICS+ cities and beyond on the local-level climate policies and climate-related data
• To discuss the potential of the good practices identified by the BRICS+ Urban Climate Agenda Report to be replicated in other places to address the climate crisis and enhance the resilience and sustainability of urban communities around the world