From Homo sapiens to homo urbanus, 2007 is the year of transformation for human beings into an urban species, said Anna Tibaijuka, Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) on 9 May 2007 at United Nations Headquarters. At a press conference, she briefed reporters on the effects of climate change on the world's cities. She said that with the increasing number of people living in cities and towns, about one third of the urban poor were "environmental refugees", due to climate change in places like Africa, where pastoral systems were no longer viable.

UN photo/ Sophia Paris

"Africa is the fastest urbanizing continent", Ms. Tibaijuka pointed out, adding that with about 37 per cent of its population living in cities and towns, it would cease to be a rural continent by 2030. She also noted that conflicts in Africa, from Darfur to Somalia, were often linked to failing environmental systems and energy consumption. Since the public domain was not closely following such issues from the perspective of the urban poor, policies should keep pace with the challenges of supplying energy and containing climate change, she said.

When asked about the spread of slum dwellers, Ms. Tibaijuka remarked that out of the world's 3 billion urban residents, about one third lived in slums or informal settlements, with 72 per cent in Africa, 46 per cent in Asia and 32 per cent in Latin America. Climate change could pose challenges on the lifestyles of slum dwellers and indigenous peoples, many of whom were no longer herdsmen, but rather lived as "climate change refugees" in cities. "Cities offer the best opportunities for industrial growth and production", she said, adding that city governments are the key drivers of industrialization, which contributed to unemployment and environmental damage in many urban areas. Some 8 per cent of the greenhouse gas emissions are being emitted from cities and towns, she noted, and the increasing urbanization, including how people live and how they plan to live, should be taken into consideration when seeking solutions to this problem.

Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis, released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), emphasized that global average sea level rose at a rate of about 3.1 millimetre per year over 1993 to 2003.

UN photo/ Sophia Paris

A number of mega-cities were threatened by the rising sea levels, as well as coastal cities like New York, Mumbai and Shanghai in particular, said Ms. Tibaijuka. "Increasing climate change poses challenges of how we are going to be able to deal with the future." Referring to city and urban residents who are not only seen as victims of climate change, but also as individuals shaping the future of the phenomenon, she called on them to prepare themselves for the environmental challenges and disasters.

"Urban governance and city planning could well be a solution", said Ms. Tibaijuka, noting that sustainable urbanization is a key to sustainable development. "The urban poor have to be part of the equation as we seek solutions to sustainable development and climate change." The Millennium Development Goals would not be achieved without a focus and understanding of the spatial dimensions of development and how people lived, she concluded.

Note: The 15th session of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development, focusing on the themes of energy, industrial development, air pollution/atmosphere and climate change, took place from 30 April to 11 May 2007 at UN Headquarters in New York.