Ahmedabad (Gujarat), the Chair City of Urban 20(U20) 2023, hosted the 2-day U20 Mayoral Summit 2023 from 7th to 8th July 2023 in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. The Summit concluded with the handover of the Communiqué from the Mayors to G20 leaders.
- Kiritkumar J Parmar, Mayor of Ahmedabad handed over the Communique to Hardeep Singh Puri, Union Minister of Housing & Urban Affairs and Amitabh Kant, G20 (Group of 20) Sherpa.
- The handover was moderated by the U20 convenors, C40 Cities and United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG).
Note: C40 cities is a set of major cities around the world that have committed to fighting climate change, which connects around 96 of the world’s largest and most influential cities.
About the Communiqué:
i. The Communiquéwas officially endorsed by a record number of 105 cities across the world.
- This is around twice the number of endorsements for any previous U20 communiqués and is the highest ever number of endorsements received to date for any U20 Communiqué.
ii. The Communiqué is in line with the theme of India’s (G20) presidency “VasudhaivaKutumbakam”, or One Earth, One Family, One Future.
iii. The Communiqué has been drafted as an action agenda for the 6 priorities identified collectively by U20 cities. The priorities are:
- Encouraging environmentally responsible behaviours
- Accelerating climate finance
- Championing local culture and economy
- Ensuring water security
- Catalysing digital urban futures and
- Reinventing frameworks for urban planning and governance.
Key Points:
i. While addressing the Summit, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri stated that cities play a major role in achieving the global goals related to sustainability, inclusivity and climate resilience.
ii. He also highlighted the 9 focus areas for the cities to achieve a sustainable future:
- Strengthen local governance
- Plan beyond traditional boundaries
- Push for financially self-reliant cities
- Foster a culture of innovation
- Harness the power of data and technology
- Shift from regulation to facilitation
- Focus on impacts not outcome
- Put citizens at the heart of urban policy
- Leverage local culture and economy
About the U20 Mayoral Summit 2023:
i. The Summit was hosted with the support of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs(MoHUA) National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA), and the U20 Technical Secretariat.
- The summit offered a platform for city leaders from G20 countries to deliberate on actions towards sustainability.
ii. The current U20 cycle has also created a record with over 50 articles, 6 extensive background research papers, six white papers on the six priority areas and six U20 bulletins being prepared and released during the cycle.
iii. The Summit also saw the launch of several technical papers and documents including the Policy brief on Mainstreaming Gender in U20 and the Ahmedabad Resilient City Climate Action Plan, which gives a roadmap for achieving net-zero emissions by 2070.
What is U20?
Urban 20 is a city diplomacy initiative that brings together cities from G20 member states under a common framework to discuss global economic, climate and development issues.
About Gujarat:
Chief Minister- Bhupendrabhai Patel
Governor- Acharya Devvrat
Airport- Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport and Dholera International Airport
