• More than 430 mayors, governors and city leaders from G20 member states gathered in Ahmedabad at the 6th Urban 20 Summit.

• The gathering of city leaders at the U20 Summit was hosted by Kiritkumar J. Parmar, the mayor of Ahmedabad, supported by the ministry of housing and urban affairs, and co-convened by C40 Cities and United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG).

• At the summit closing, Parmar presented a six-point Communiqué which outlines U20’s vision for working collaboratively with the Group of 20 (G20) to inspire city-level solutions to global climate, economic and environmental issues. It was signed by 105 cities.

The U20 Communiqué highlighted six key areas of focus designed to shift urban action “from intention to action” and called for the G20 to collaborate with city leaders to:

i) Encourage environmentally responsible behaviours

ii) Ensure water security

iii) Accelerate climate finance

iv) Champion local culture and economy

v) Reinvent frameworks for urban governance and planning

vi) Catalyse digital urban futures

What is Urban 20?

• More than half the world lives in urban areas presently, and cities will be home to about two thirds of the world population by 2050.

• However, with millions of people living in dense urban areas, cities are also most vulnerable to impacts of climate change, disasters, environmental degradation, resources depletion, chaotic growth and socio-economic inequality.

• Urban 20 was launched in 2017 under the leadership of Mayor Larreta of Buenos Aires and Mayor Hidalgo of Paris to bring together mayors from major G20 cities to inform the discussions of national leaders at the G20. 

• Urban 20 is a city diplomacy initiative that brings together cities from G20 member states under a common framework to discuss global economic, climate and development issues. 

• U20 is an engagement group under the larger inter-governmental forum of G20 and plays a vital role in contributing perspectives, concerns, and ideas from cities to inform and enrich the overall G20 negotiations.

It facilitates discussions on various important issues of urban development including:

i) Climate change

ii) Social inclusion

iii) Sustainable mobility

iv) Affordable housing

v) Financing of urban infrastructure.

• It strives to establish a lasting practice of engagement among cities to develop a collective message that emphasizes the role of cities in taking forward the sustainable development agenda. 

• Contributions from the U20 are shared with the G20 presidency and Heads of State, enhancing the role of cities as global economic and political leaders.

• The U20 initiative is permanently convened by C40 Cities and United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), under the leadership of a chair city that changes each year. 

• Previous U20 summits were chaired by Buenos Aires and Paris (2018), Tokyo (2019), Riyadh (2020), Rome and Milan (2021) as well as Jakarta and West Java (2022).

• The city of Ahmedabad is the U20 2023 chair. 

• Through the U20, cities from G20 member states engage with the G20 and commit to working together with national governments to move from intention to action and draft a roadmap for global change that will be driven together with cities, closing the gap between policy and practice at all levels of governance.

C40 Cities

• C40 is a network of nearly 100 mayors of the world’s leading cities who are working to deliver the urgent action needed right now to confront the climate crisis and create a future where everyone, everywhere can thrive. 

• Mayors of C40 cities are committed to using a science-based and people-focused approach to help the world limit global heating to 1.5°C and build healthy, equitable and resilient communities. 

• Through a Global Green New Deal, mayors are working alongside a broad coalition of representatives from labour, business, the youth climate movement and civil society to go further and faster than ever before.

United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG)

• UCLG is an umbrella organisation for cities, local and regional governments, and municipal associations, representing and defending their interests on the world stage.

• UCLG’s origins date back to the first ever International Congress of Cities held in Ghent in 1913. 

• Today, with more than 250,000 members, it serves 70 per cent of the world’s population and is present in all world regions. 

• UCLG leads on the localisation of the global agendas through its Pact for the Future of Humanity and the achievement of the common agenda through the facilitation of the Global Taskforce of Local and Regional Governments, the official consultation mechanism through which the constituency deliberates and unites its voice before the United Nations and other international processes.

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