Remarks by H.E. Mr. Abdulla Shahid, President of the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly

26 April 2022

 

Distinguished officials and guests,

Ladies and gentlemen,

I am delighted to join you for today’s discussion on financing climate adaptation.

As Chief Executives and professionals representing vibrant and growing cities, your presence here today affirms your commitment to tackling climate change.

Home to more than half of the world’s population, cities are already at the forefront of the climate crisis and its associated risks.

At the same time, cities serve as key levers for sustainable development and environmental action, not least of which in undertaking measures to address climate change.

Yet, not all environmental action is treated equally; climate mitigation measures vastly outweigh adaptation measures.

While there is no denying the urgent need to mitigate climate change and reduce carbon dioxide emissions, the unfortunate reality is that prioritizing this over all else leaves nearly half of humanity vulnerable to the impacts that are already taking place.We need to make long-term changes that allow us to develop more sustainably, while increasing resilience.

To be clear: inadequate and incoherent adaptation measures risk further exacerbating the vulnerabilities of cities, where nearly 70% of humanity will live by 2050.

And the most vulnerable of all are those in cities in Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries, and Small Island Developing States.

Clearly, we must find a way to mitigate and adapt, concurrently and at the scale needed; now, more than ever, we must live up to our collective promise of “leaving no one behind.”

Whether it is boosting shore protection; investing in sustainable waste management and energy generation; looking at more energy efficient and greener building codes for infrastructure development; or developing more innovative and sustainable ways of storing, preserving, and utilizing water, these are adaptation solutions that cities can and should be investing in.

Dear friends,

We need to work together to implement the key actions of the New Urban Agenda, the universal framework for housing and sustainable urban development.

Working with communities, organized grassroots and women’s groups, we can establish vulnerability assessments and action plans to support risk-reduction and climate adaptation,strengthen communities’ preparedness, and promote social inclusion.

Unfortunately, the continuing COVID-19 pandemic and growing conflicts are throttling the global economy, underminingprogress for rebound, pushing countries into deeper debt, and deepening macroeconomic fragilities and social inequalities.

These developments severely cut the resources needed for climate action.

The answer therefore is to enshrine climate action into all our efforts, even if not directly or evidently related to climate change. We have to ‘green’ all our investments, ensuring that economic incentives align with the level of action needed to keep 1.5º alive. We need to ensure that climate financing is also aligned with financing towards SDGs, which includes sustainable urbanization as a goal.

The key is to aim for systemic resilience, across the board, in every sector.

At the same time, developed countries have to deliver on their climate finance pledge of US$100 billion through to 2025. And this funding must reach the city level, where the SDGs are localized and implemented on the ground.

Currently, only 1.3 per cent of total bilateral development assistance is provided to cities and regions.

We must also work to strengthen local governments’ capabilities to augment their domestic resources. This can be achieved bysecuring external finance for sustainable urban transformations.

Dear Colleagues,

We must accept the fact that cities are both “a cause of and solution to” climate change.

Let us empower cities to contribute even more and help take the lead in tackling climate action.

I have every confidence in your capacity and commitment tostrive towards the goal of SDG11: to “make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.”

I thank you.