Ahmedabad will host the first Sherpa meeting of Urban 20 (U20) on Feb 9-10, one of the 10 engagement groups under G20 to prepare the urban agenda. This meeting is part of the G20 Leaders’ Summit.
U20 is a city diplomacy programme where cities from participating countries talk about local initiatives to address urgent global challenges.
Climate change and sustainable development including socioeconomic concerns are U20’s top priorities.
Ahmedabad will host the U20 gatherings that will culminate in the U20 Mayors’ Summit in July 2023. India assumed the G20 presidency on December 1 for a year.
Senior ministry officials have identified six priority areas for the February meeting including promoting environmentally responsible behaviour, ensuring water security, accelerating climate finance, maximising the potential and identity of the “local,” reinventing frameworks for urban governance and igniting digital urban futures.
“The effort of this cycle will be to move from ‘intention to action’ and draft a roadmap for closing the gaps between policy and practice to address critical urban issues. The Communiqué, outcome document reflecting the aspiration of the participating cities, will be presented by the Mayor of Ahmedabad to the Prime Minister of India or his representative,” said the statement from the housing and urban affairs ministry.
“Under the G20 presidency of India, Ahmedabad, a UNESCO World Heritage city, will host the U20 cycle. Along with C40 (Climate 40) and United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), two international non-governmental advocacy groups on urban issues, Ahmedabad will organize various events including City Sherpas’ inception meeting on 9-10 February 2023, thematic discussions and side events on urban development issues culminating with U20 Mayors’ Summit in July 2023,” said the statement from the housing and urban affairs ministry.
On Monday, Gujarat chief minister Bhupendra Patel unveiled the logo, website and social media handles of Urban-20 at an event in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
According to Hitesh Vaidya, Director of NIUA, “This city diplomacy initiative is a significant opportunity to catalyze and enable development in focus areas by deliberating on emerging technologies, solutions utilizing data, aggregating knowledge and innovations to unlock more effective mechanisms of governance and better models of development.”