urban pathways
On the 12th of December 2015, Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) reached a landmark agreement to combat climate change and to accelerate and intensify the actions and investments needed for a sustainable low carbon future in Paris, France – bringing into existence the “Paris Agreement”. The Paris Agreement builds upon the Convention and – for the first time – brings all nations into a common cause to undertake take ambitious efforts to combat climate change and adapt to its effects, with enhanced support to assist developing countries to do so. As such, it charts a new course in the global climate effort. Also in December of 2015, the United Nations General Assembly, in its seventieth session, adopted the resolution on the ‘Implementation of the outcome of the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II) and strengthening of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat)’ (A/70/210) , which refers to the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III) Conference modalities. The intention of the Habitat III Conference is to reinvigorate the global commitment to sustainable urbanisation and to focus on the implementation of a New Urban Agenda, building on the Habitat Agenda of Istanbul in 1996.
The Urban Pathways project embarks on a four-year programme of action to deliver on the combined aims and ambitions of the UN’s New Urban Agenda, Sustainable Development Goals, and the Paris agreement – making a direct contribution by focusing on implementation programmes in the area of energy, waste resource management, and transportation. Initially, the Urban Pathways project focuses on India, Brazil, Kenya and Viet Nam as four pilot countries for the implementation of the programme’s identified work agenda. This plan of action includes a stepping-stone assessment of the political, technological, socio-economic and financial viability of concepts prior to proceeding. Thereafter, the programme focuses on developing national action plans and concrete local implementation concepts to boost low-carbon urban development in key the identified emerging economies. The identified local implementation concepts are further developed into bankable projects, focusing on the thematic areas that create a direct link between climate change mitigation and sustainable development. The Urban Pathways’ project overarching ambitions is to make an active contribution to achieve global climate change targets to a 1.5-degree stabilisation pathway by unlocking the global emission reduction potential in urban energy, transport and resource sectors of 3.7Gt CO2 emissions by 2030. This is also done by collaborating with other organisations and networks active in this area by establishing a facility of cooperation – that streamlines joint and parallel work efforts in support to national and local governments local implementation concepts. The Urban Pathways’ project will then replicate this process regionally further.
The Urban Pathways project makes a direct contribution to the implementation of the New Urban Agenda and the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals.
The project:
The Urban Pathways project embarks on a four-year programme of action to deliver on the combined aims and ambitions of the UN’s New Urban Agenda, Sustainable Development Goals, and the Paris agreement – making a direct contribution by focusing on implementation programmes in the area of energy, waste resource management, and transportation. Initially, the Urban Pathways project focuses on India, Brazil, Kenya and Viet Nam as four pilot countries for the implementation of the programme’s identified work agenda. This plan of action includes a stepping-stone assessment of the political, technological, socio-economic and financial viability of concepts prior to proceeding. Thereafter, the programme focuses on developing national action plans and concrete local implementation concepts to boost low-carbon urban development in key the identified emerging economies. The identified local implementation concepts are further developed into bankable projects, focusing on the thematic areas that create a direct link between climate change mitigation and sustainable development. The Urban Pathways’ project overarching ambitions is to make an active contribution to achieve global climate change targets to a 1.5-degree stabilisation pathway by unlocking the global emission reduction potential in urban energy, transport and resource sectors of 3.7Gt CO2 emissions by 2030. This is also done by collaborating with other organisations and networks active in this area by establishing a facility of cooperation – that streamlines joint and parallel work efforts in support to national and local governments local implementation concepts. The Urban Pathways’ project will then replicate this process regionally further.
The Urban Pathways project makes a direct contribution to the implementation of the New Urban Agenda and the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals.
The project:
- develops national action plans and concrete local implementation concepts to boost low-carbon urban development in key emerging economies - India, Brazil, Kenya and Viet Nam
- make an active contribution to achieve global climate change targets to a 1.5 Degree stabilisation pathway by unlocking the global emission reduction potential of urban energy, transport and resource sectors of 3.7Gt CO2 emissions by 2030
- has established a facility in close cooperation with other organisations and networks active in this area to support national and local governments
- political, technological, socio-economic and financial viability
- is being developed into bankable projects, focusing on the access to urban basic services to create a direct link between climate change mitigation and sustainable development goals
- replicated regionally with policy development and implementation support and advice on stakeholder engagement and financing mechanisms
Project partners
Un-habitatUN-Habitat is the United Nations programme working towards a better urban future. The Urban Basic Services Branch of UN-Habitat will work with international partners and highly motivated cities in Asia, Africa and Latin America on the implementation of the New Urban Agenda focusing on urban energy, mobility and resources systems. This will build directly on a broad range of activities by UN-Habitat in the respective sectors and on the dedication to sector integration. |
WUPPERTAL INSTITUTEThe Wuppertal Institute will support the project by developing implementation-ready concepts for sustainable urban development, bringing together local demand, technical expertise and policy advice with financing institutions. In close cooperation with a network international project partners, the institute will work on closing the implementation gap between applied research and policy action to foster sustainable urban development in Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America. |
UN EnvironmentUN Environment will provide technical advice on the effective implementation of the Paris Agreement. It´s mission is to identify emission reduction opportunities, timely and quantified progress towards emission reduction strategies and additional mitigation actions. UNEP will assist by facilitating dialogue with the ministerial level and assessing the implementation readiness of the pilot project concepts as well as helping to identify suitable funding agencies for the scaled-up implementation phase. |
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This project is part of the International Climate Initiative (IKI). The Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) supports this initiative on the basis of a decision adopted by the German Bundestag.
