5 speakers not to miss at Daring Cities 2021

On 4-8 October, Daring Cities 2021 will be bringing you the latest on urban sustainability from citymakers worldwide. From the Philippines to Ecuador, we’ve hand-selected the best and most daring of city leaders for you to get to know! You’ll hear from the trailblazers who are calling out corporate energy giants as perpetrators of climate injustice, from the minds who are shaping the future of governance approaches and from the citymakers at the forefront of urban resilience. Curious to know who’ll be speaking?

Here are 5 key speakers not to miss this year at Daring Cities:

1. Mayor Abigail Binay – City of Makati, Philippines

Monday, 4 October 10:00 – 11:00 CEST The necessity to act now

How to accelerate urgent climate action: What cities and regions need

Elected in 2016 as City Mayor of Makati, Philippines, Abigail Binay has since then been pushing forward on the administration’s sustainability agenda. A strong advocate for climate action, Mayor Binay was appointed this year to the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy (GCoM). She is also responsible for Makati’s exemplary ‘Pre-Disaster Recovery Plan’, which seeks to build urban resilience and mitigate the adverse effects of the climate emergency by mapping the city’s resources – knowledge, infrastructure, ecosystem services, human resources. Binay will speak on the urgency of the current climate situation and on the role cities need to play in ensuring action is now and impactful.

2. Mauricio Rodas – Co-Chair of Global Commission for BiodiverCities by 2030 (World Economic Forum)

Wednesday, 6 October 14:00-15:00 CEST Multi-Stakeholder Collaboration

Commitments of local climate action partners and enablers

Mauricio Rodas, is an Ecuadorian lawyer and former mayor of Quito, Ecuador, a role he assumed in 2014. Founder of the Fundación Ethos, a Latin American think tank working on social and environmental policy, Rodas is a daring leader of climate action. He is currently the Co-Chair of the Global Commission for BiodiverCities by 2030, a global initiative, from the World Economic Forum and the Government of Columbia, that fosters nature-positive urban development, by drawing on, and combining, innovations in research and practical implementation. Bringing in this wealth of experience, Mauricio Rodas will speak during the ‘Multi-stakeholder collaboration’ session, sharing his knowledge on climate actor networks and actor roles.

3. Mayor Katja Dörner – City of Bonn, Germany

Monday, 4 October 10:00-11:00 CEST The necessity to act now – 1

Mayor of Bonn since 2020, Katja Dörner is a driving force for climate action on the subnational level. Her policy priorities include ensuring Bonn’s transition to climate neutrality by 2035 and advancing the city’s sustainable mobility goals through increased walking, scooting and cycling infrastructure. Not only is Dörner the city leader of Bonn, but she is also Co-Chair of ICLEI’s Global Executive Committee and member of the Mayor’s Alliance for the European Green Deal. We look forward to welcoming her in both our ‘The necessity to act -1’ session, where she will elaborate on what and how cities can act now, as well as in subsequent sessions.

Mayor Dörner will also be speaking on:

Wednesday 6 October 17:00 – 17:45 CEST Celebrating UNBonn25:The future of cities and regions in the era of inclusive multilateralism

Friday, 8 October 12:00-13:30 CEST Accelerating action and advocacy on climate emergency – 1

4. Dr. Philipp Rode – Executive director, LSE Cities, UK

Monday, 4 October 17:30-18:30 CEST Leading by Example (II)

Fireside Chat: Inclusive urban governance for climate emergency

Executive Director of LSE Cities at the London School of Economics and Political Science, Dr. Philipp Rode is an expert on urban governance. His areas of research focus on the institutional capacities and structures of cities as well as on sustainable urban design and mobility. Recent publications of his include: ‘Governing Compact Cities: How to connect planning, design and transport’ (Elgar 2018), co-editing of ‘Shaping Cities in an Urban Age’ (Phaidon 2018), co-authoring of ‘Resource Urbanisms: Asia’s divergent city models of Kuwait, Abu Dhabi, Singapore and Hong Kong’ (2017), and ‘Towards New Urban Mobility: The case of London and Berlin’ (2015).

5. Mayor Ravi Bhalla – City of Hoboken, USA

Monday, 4 October 15:00-16:00 CEST The necessity to act now – II

Fireside chat: Putting words to action: Beyond declaring a climate emergency

Ravi Bhalla is Hoboken’s 39th mayor and has been in office since 2017. Formally educated in law, Mayor Bhalla is well-known for his leading role in bringing attention to climate-related problems caused by the burning of fossil fuels by major oil and gas companies. Inspired to create a greener Hoboken, he’s pledged to reach carbon neutrality by 2035 and is implementing resiliency parks to store excess stormwater run-off, reducing the city’s vulnerability to climate-induced flooding. He has also been actively engaged in calls for the national government to move forward with investment in renewable energy sources and divestment from fossil fuels.

Want to know more about the the Daring Cities session themes? Find information on the sessions, speakers and event program on the Daring Cities website.