First Meeting of Mayors Forum on Urban Nature and Biodiversity | The Global Platform for Sustainable Cities

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First Meeting of Mayors Forum on Urban Nature and Biodiversity

27 October 2024

10:30 am

Cali, Colombia

The Urban Nature Program, co-led by the World Bank, UNEP, and ICLEI, with the support of the GEF, in collaboration with Inter-American Development Bank, C40 Cities, World Resources Institute, International Union for Conservation of Nature, Climate Change Champion Team and WBCSD, aims to scale up financing to support cities and subnational governments in implementing their actions for nature-positive development promoted under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF).

The Mayors' Forum, which is part of the Urban Nature Program, convenes mayors and senior leaders of cities and sub-national governments to demonstrate action and ambition on the global stage and spearhead the role of cities in protecting the nature of the planet and achieving the targets set out in GBF. The first meeting of the Forum provides an opportunity for cities to reinforce their shared version of urban nature, raise ambition, and call for investing in green and blue infrastructure. The COP16 schedule is available on the CBD website.

Following the event, a comprehensive summary was produced to highlight the key insights, conclusions, and actionable next steps identified by the Urban Nature Program and its partners. This summary captures the collective commitment of the Forum to advancing urban biodiversity and reinforces a shared vision for a nature-positive future in cities worldwide.

Download the meeting summary here

Download the photos the event here

Download the presentations here

Agenda

Welcome and Opening Remarks

Alejandro Char, Mayor of Cali, Colombia

Marie-Andree Mauger, Deputy Mayor of Montreal, Canada

Overview of Urban Nature Program

Xueman Wang, Program Manager, GPSC, World Bank

Keynote speech – Call for Action

H.E. Ms. Razan Al Mubarak, High-Level Champion UNFCCC COP28, President of IUCN

Vision and Ambition – from Mayors

The mayors will demonstrate their city's commitment and action to urban nature and biodiversity, especially the action in implementing Target12 of the Global Biodiversity Framework - Enhance Green Spaces and Urban Planning for Human Well-Being and Biodiversity.

Moderated by

Gregor Robertson, Former Mayor of Vancouver, Canada

Support from financial institutions and partner Organizations

Ming Zhang, Global Director, World Bank

Maria Camila Uribe, Sector Principal Leader, IDB

Doreen Robinson, Chief for Wildlife. UNEP

Aloke Barnwal, City Lead, GEF Secretariat

Ingrid Coetzee, Director: Biodiversity, Nature & Health, ICLEI

Conclusions and Next Steps

Marie-Andree Mauger, Deputy Mayor of Montreal, Canada

Xueman Wang, Program Manager, GPSC, World Bank

List of Speakers -City Mayors

City / Entity	Country	Full name	Title
Barranquilla	Colombia	Alejandro Char	Mayor
Bogota	Colombia	Carlos Fernando Galán	Mayor
Cali	Colombia	Alejandro Eder	Mayor
Del Carmen	Philippines	Alfredo M Coro II	Mayor
Douala IV	Cameroon	Edouard Hervé Mony Mpah	Mayor
Kisumu	Kenya	Peter Anyang' Nyong'o	Governor
Kochi	India	Anil Kumar	Mayor
Montreal	Canada	Marie-Andree Mauger	Deputy Mayor
Nagoya	Japan	Midori Sugino	Deputy Mayor
Nansana	Uganda	Regina Nakkazzi	Mayor
Ecuador	Samborondón	Juan José Yúnñez Nowak	Mayor
Seattle	USA	Adiam Emery	Deputy Mayor
Siranjganj	Bangladesh	Tofazzal Hossain	Administrator

City Participants

City	Country	Full name	Title
Berlin	Germany	Britta Behrendt	Permanent Secretary for Climate Protection and the Environment
Mendoza	Argentina	Sebastián Fermani	Secretary of Environment
Mexico City	Mexico	Jorge Liber Saltijeral Giles	Director of International Cooperation
Paris	France	Francois Moreau	Head of Ecological Agency
Quezon	Philippines	Baltazar Avelino	Head of Parks Development and Administration Department- Department head
Los Angeles (LA)	USA	Doug Walters	Chief Sustainability Officer
Ningbo	China	Zhu Jianrong	Deputy Director General of Ningbo Municipal Ecology and Environmental Bureau

*Simultaneous interpretation in English and Spanish is available.