Action-oriented studies show that the 2030 Agenda will only be successful if implemented at the urban level and together with urban actors. In fact, cities – as actors and places – are crucial to achieve two thirds of all SDG targets. This insight and the principle of interconnectedness underpin the urgency to follow integrated approaches for sustainable urban development to break down barriers between sectors and stakeholders, and between institutions and levels of government. […] The publication describes five development projects implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the German Ministry for Economic Development and Cooperation (BMZ). These projects applied an integrated urban development approach that led to comprehensive and sustainable results in urban areas thereby contributing to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.
Kategorie: SDGs / Agenda 2030
Urban-Rural Linkages: Guiding Principles
"The reciprocal and repetitive flow of people, goods and financial and environmental services (defining urban-rural linkages) between specific rural, peri-urban and urban locations are interdependent; they are the reality of socio-spatial arrangements, creating places with distinct yet interwoven, socially constructed identities. The benefits of investing in connective infrastructure and services, while building capacity for inclusive and functional territories linking urban and rural communities, are immense in all three areas of sustainable development: economic, social and environmental. The goal of these Guiding Principles is to inform pragmatic strategies and propose a Framework for Action to build an enabling environment for more inclusive and functional urban-rural linkages. The Guiding Principles also provide a reference for revising national and subnational rural, urban and territorial policy frameworks."
The Future is Now: Science for Achieving Sustainable Development,
In 2016, Member States decided that the report should be produced once every four years, to inform the quadrennial SDG review deliberations at the General Assembly, and that it should be written by an Independent Group of Scientists appointed by the Secretary-General. They mandated that the Group would consist of 15 experts representing a variety of backgrounds, scientific disciplines and institutions, ensuring geographical and gender balance.
The Future is Now: Science for Achieving Sustainable Development, is the first Global Sustainable Development Report prepared by the Independent Group of Scientists appointed by the United Nations Secretary-General. It does not produce new evidence; rather it capitalizes on existing knowledge across disciplines, through an “assessment of assessments”. It highlights state-of-the-art knowledge for transformations towards sustainable development and identifies concrete areas where rapid, transformational change is possible. The Report is not only a product but also a process for advancing collaboration among actors in science, Government, the private sector and civil society in all regions of the world towards identifying and realizing concrete pathways for transformation driven by evidence.
Adapt Now: A Global Call for Leadership on Climate Resilience
The report puts forward a bold vision for how to transform key economics systems, making them more resilient and productive. The Commission finds that climate adaptation can produce significant economic returns: the overall rate of return on investments in improved resilience is high, with benefit-cost ratios ranging from 2:1 to 10:1, and in some cases even higher.
The analysis specifically finds that investing $1.8 trillion globally in five areas from 2020 to 2030 could generate $7.1 trillion in total net benefits. The five areas of climate adaptation the report considers are: early warning systems, climate-resilient infrastructure, improved dryland agriculture, mangrove protection, and investments in making water resources more resilient. These represent just a portion of the total investments needed and total benefits available.
Recent events have shown that climate change affects people everywhere. Furthermore, without action, millions of people will be pushed further into poverty, leading to increased conflict and instability.
Integrated Implementation of the 2030 Agenda in Cities and City-Regions
GIZ and the authors in this publication series observe increasing spatial and functional interrelations between cities, settlements and their surrounding rural areas and argue that the city-regional scale is highly relevant and call for paradigm shifts towards urban and regional planning, financing and implementation across sectors, stakeholders, administrative borders and governmental level. The studies and discussion papers in this publication series cover a diverse set of cityregional challenges and solutions gathered around the focus areas “Integrated Implementation of Global Agendas”, “Metropolitan Governance”, “Integrated Territorial Development for Strengthening Urban-Rural Linkages – including City Region Food Systems”, “Urban Resource Management and Climate Change”, “Digitalisation and Urban Development – Smart Cities” and “Regional Economic Development and Innovative Business Regions”. The studies and discussion papers aim at promoting the local implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Paris Climate Agreement and the New Urban Agenda (NUA) which acknowledge the mutual dependencies between cities and regions as key potentials for inclusive and sustainable development.
The GIZ publication provides an overview of studies, discussion papers and digital sources related to urban and metropolitan issues from the perspective of German development cooperation.
Towards the Localization of the SDGs
"This Report explores the involvement of Local and Regional Governments (LRGs) in the localization of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Following UN guidelines, it complements the Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) submitted by 143 countries to the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) throughout the first four- year cycle of voluntary reporting. It delivers first-hand information from LRGs in 80 different countries, including 24 of the 47 countries reporting in 2019."
Sustainable Development Report 2019
"The Sustainable Development Report 2019 presents an updated SDG Index and Dashboards with a refined assessment of countries’ distance to SDG targets. New indicators have been included, primarily to refine the indicator selection on agriculture, diets, gender equality and freedom of speech. Once again, Nordic countries top the SDG Index. Yet, even these countries face major challenges in implementing one or several SDGs. No country is on track for achieving all 17 goals with major performance gaps even in the top countries on SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), SDG 13 (Climate Action), SDG 14 (Life Below Water) and SDG 15 (Life on Land). Income and wealth inequalities, as well as gaps in health and education outcomes by population groups also remain important policy challenges in developing and developed countries alike."
2019 SDG Indicators and Dashboards Report for European Cities
"This is the first report comparing the performance of capital cities and a selection of large metropolitan areas in the European-Union (EU) and European Free Trade Association (EFTA) on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In total, results for 45 European cities are presented in this first prototype version.
Achieving the SDGs will require, at the local level, deep transformations in transportation, energy and urban planning and new approaches to address poverty and inequalities in access to key public services including health and education."
Solutions for and by cities
"The Guangzhou International Award for Urban Innovation is dedicated to decentralised, city-to-city cooperation and sharing lessons learned from experience. Its focus covers the three pillars of sustainability: social, economic and environmental, and two additional domains – governance and technology.
The fourth edition of the Guangzhou Award was a remarkable show of these links between innovation and learning from different stakeholders. This publication is an attempt to extend the prestige of the initiatives that were shortlisted for the award, and to spread their legacy to even broader audiences."
Rethinking the ecosystem of international city networks
Cities have emerged as major players on the international scene in recent years. Yet, their ambition to project themselves internationally and to influence global agendas is not a new phenomenon. Cities have operated through organised networks for decades. The first international organisation of cities was the International Union of Local Authorities, created in 1913. Towards the end of the past century, the regional integration processes of the 1990s engendered a proliferation of city networks, especially in Europe but also in Latin America, Africa and Asia. In 2004, the founding of United Cities and Local Governments as a platform for international municipalism marked a turning point.
Today city networks play a growing role in defining and implementing some of the main global agendas. Their involvement in the United Nations Conference on Climate Change, their success in adding a territorial dimension to the UN 2030 Agenda, and their participation in the Steering Committee of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Co-operation, are good examples of how city networks are making their voice heard. But the increasing importance attributed to urbanisation processes on international development agendas has also caused a reconfiguration of the ecosystem of city networks that brings with it both risks and opportunities.
This volume seeks to analyse the changing dynamics of the ecosystem of city networks, focusing on how the main platforms operate, what influence they have on global agendas, what services they provide and how they coordinate their efforts. By zooming in on the strategies networks have been developing to enhance their influence and make their operations more effective, the volume examines the added value they provide.