One city, many realities: The climate story in Lima

Peru is moving forward on climate action. Just few days before the Resilient Cities congress, the government passed Law 30754 – the Framework Act on Climate Change. This law aims to establish principles, approaches and general provisions to design, execute, monitor and evaluate public policies for climate change mitigation and adaptation. The Ministry of Environment 

Continue Reading →

A snapshot of urban resilience

At the end of last year, nations had submitted nine National Adaptation Plans under the UNFCCC, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Now, there are 24 submissions from the total 197 nations that have signed the treaty. Local and regional governments are moving ahead themselves to advance resilience planning. They are progressing towards the 

Continue Reading →

Stories from Mozambique: High impact, low cost interventions

by Sophia Rettberg, student at University College Maastricht and Resilient Cities 2018 volunteer Coastal cities in Mozambique are responding to a range of hazards – and often doing so with limited resources and funding. At Resilient Cities 2018, mayors and senior municipal managers of Pemba and Quelimane presented some key projects aiming to address these 

Continue Reading →

Cities and climate science: The next frontier

At present, urban communities contribute up to 70 percent of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions globally. They are also among the most vulnerable hotspots for climate change impacts. It is critical that we now deploy evidence-based, science-driven to shape policy and action across urban areas worldwide. The Cities IPCC conference held this past March in Edmonton, 

Continue Reading →

Insurance companies and cities: Allies in urban resilience

Once impacted by natural disasters, cities are relying on insurance companies to rebuild and recover, which is driving up premiums. Constructive partnerships between cities and insurance companies can lay the foundation for a more proactive planning model, where cities and insurance companies plan together before a disaster strikes. As it is, rebuilding after a shock 

Continue Reading →

News from the front-line

At COP23, the 23rd United Nations Climate Change Conference, ICLEI and GLISPA – the Global Island Partnership – launched Front-line Cities and Islands, an initiative uniting islands and coastal cities to advance resilience building. This coalition is supported by a range of regional and international agencies, including the COP23 Presidency. Initiatives like Front-line are evidence that islands and 

Continue Reading →

A match for resilience: The public sector and small and medium enterprises

by Sophia Rettberg, student at University College Maastricht and Resilient Cities 2018 volunteer For cities to advance resilient development strategies, it is critical to pool together and leverage all available resources. To facilitate long-term and future-oriented change, experts and researchers have initiated collaboration projects that combine the efforts of both the private and public sectors. 

Continue Reading →

Our digital cities: Open, transparent – but hackable?

Five seconds, a simple laptop, knowing where to look and what to look for. This is what it took to Thomas Stasch, Head of IT-Security and Civitec-CERT at Civitec to do a live demonstration of how simple it is to take control of a home automation system, something more and more people install without even thinking 

Continue Reading →

Four top ways to drive resilient urban development

We live in an increasingly urban world. Over half the global population lives in cities, and more than two-thirds will by 2050. At the same time, risks faced by urban areas are increasing. Millions of people are losing theirhomes, livelihoods or lives because of extreme weather, in both developed and developing countries. At least two-thirds 

Continue Reading →

Letter from Ashok-Alexander Sridharan Mayor of Bonn and First Vice President of ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability

  Dear ICLEI friends and colleagues,   Building resilience in our communities plays an important role in the actions we take as local leaders. The global climate is changing quickly, and urban communities are on the frontlines of this shift. At the same time, many cities are rapidly expanding and facing unprecedented social and technological 

Continue Reading →