100 Climate Neutral Cities by 2030
EU Has a Mission: 100 Climate Neutral Cities by 2030. The UN Conference on Climate Change Wrapped-up in Glasgow With Disappointments For Some, But Forward Looking Mayors Are on Board for Net Zero
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How to finance lasting climate solutions?
That is the trillion dollar question. A good paper here on what is at stake, by Mark Carney, UN Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance and the UK Prime Minister's Finance Adviser for COP26.
EU Mission: Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities
Save the Date
25 November 2021: Horizon Europe Will Announce a Call for Expressions of Interest
EU to Launch 350 Million Euros Funding to Make 100 Cities Climate Neutral
The EU is ready to deploy financing and grants through its Horizon Europe funding framework programme for tech companies and other innovators that will help cities achieve the ambitious goal of 100 cities climate neutral by 2030.
A feasible goal if mayors and others are on board, particularly the private sector. Horizon Europe is the EU’s funding programme for research and innovation with a budget of €95.5 billion for the period from 2021-2027.
The UN Brief interviewed Matthew Baldwin, European Commission Deputy Director-General for the Mobility and Transport Directorate-General to speak about the cities that already signalled their interest during COP26 , including Marseille with a population of 861,000, and Mannheim a 309,307 inhabitants city in Germany.
Zaragoza in Spain too, with a population of 666,880 inhabitants in its metropolitan area, is working towards that goal. Cities from across the world were pushing and pulling levers to advance their ways of addressing climate change at COP26.
Mayors are the hope for many, as 56.2% of the global population now lives in cities.
The biggest change has been in Latin America and the Caribbean, with 81.2% of the population living in urban areas, up from 41.3% in 1950. Source: WEF
In case you missed
Our Past Interviews on COP26
WFP - World Food Programme
Interview with German Ambassador Dr. Martin Frick, who was recently appointed Director of the World Food Programme Global Office, in Berlin.
He was till now the Deputy of the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy for the Food Systems Summit 2021. He served before as the Senior Director of UN Climate Change where he was overseeing the implementation of the Paris Agreement and the secretariat's Climate Action work.
As programme director for former Secretary-General Kofi Annan's Foundation, he developed the founding narrative of climate justice.
He previously served as Director for Climate Change at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, FAO. He was the German representative for human rights and humanitarian affairs at the UN General Assembly and served as the European Union’s lead negotiator in the establishment of the UN Human Rights Council.
As Ambassador to the international organizations based in Germany, he helped building up the UN’s sustainability hub in Bonn. He holds a PhD in Law from Regensburg University and was a guest lecturer at the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin.
The UN Brief interviewed his this afternoon to speak about the highlights of COP26. Follow us on Twitter @TheUNBrief and @MayaPlentz
Bamboo Capital Partners and the SDGs
The UN Brief interviews Florian Kemmerich, Partner at Bamboo Capital, an impact investment firm that works with the UN.
We spoke about #COP26 and their new partnership with Palladium. Watch:
WTO - World Trade Organisation
Interview with Ambassador Jean-Marie Paugam, Deputy Director-General, WTO.
European Commission
We interviewed Matthew Baldwin, who is the Deputy Director-General at the Mobility and Transport Directorate at the European Commission in Brussels.
The EC Mobility and Transport Directorate just announced a new EU Mission, that will be funded by the new cycle of the EU funding program for research and innovation, Horizon Europe, with a seed fund of $350 Million USD allocated to make 100 cities climate neutral, from the roughly $100 Billion USD (that is the total funding for Horizon Europe over 7 years) available through various programs and to finance the EU Green Deal.
The private sector will play a role too, of course, to finance this transition. The delivery of the EU Green Deal will depend on the participation of cities at the end of the day they are the ones that can deliver. A call for expression of interest will be launched by the end of November 2021.
Follow us on Twitter @TheUNBrief and @MayaPlentz
UNHCR - UN High Commission for Refugees
Interview with Andrew Harper, Special Advisor for Climate Action to Filippo Grandi, UN High-Commissioner for Refugees, on his recent trip to West Africa.
ESA - European Space Agency and the SDGs
Interview with European Space Agency Isabelle Duvaux-Bechon, Acting Head of the Foresight, Strategy and Coordination Department (DG-5) and Head of the Strategy and Development Office (DG-5A), we spoke about the UN SDGs, cybersecurity in space and on land, #innovation, and funding mechanisms for space science in Europe.
In Geneva: Building Bridges
From November 29 the flagship event by Sustainable Finance Geneva, Building Bridges, will make the city a hub for everyone who wants to understand and participate on discussions about how to finance climate change mitigation.
Four days of events, starting with a summit, then crowdsourced events throughout the city, will bring politicians, NGOs, banking, fintech, and the UN and its agencies together to speak impact financing.
The UN Brief interviewed Sandrine Salerno, former Mayor of Geneva, and current Director of Geneva Sustainable Finance, to speak about the organisation and what is on the agenda for Building Bridges Week. Follow us on Twitter @TheUNBrief and @MayaPlentz
UNEP - United Nations Environment Programme
Interview with Tim Christophersen, Head, Nature for Climate Branch, United Nations Environment Programme
The UN Brief Photo of the Year
We used to show pictures like these 20 years ago, as if the polar bears losing their natural habitat was our only problem. But how much did we know back then?
It turns out that we knew already a lot. But some were not paying attention.
1992, IPCC. Remember the date.
