UN HABITAT vs. URBAN DISASTER LAW and CONFLICT HAZARD #NUA

Africa – Americas – Arab States – Asia & Pacific – Central Asia – Europe

UN Habitat will Adopt, commit, implement, encourage, promote adequate investments, support, recognize, invite, underscore and promote urban disaster response;

Urban climatic disaster response – #Disasterlaw

From All cities implementing policies endorsing Urban Climatic Emergency Evacuation Plan (#UCEEP) initiative to What is the military’s role in the New Urban Agenda?

Disaster law initiatives to combat climate change
“Duty-to-protect”

Drawing the state of disaster action around the world
“Duty-to-warn”

Participatory meetings to get to concrete catastrophe risk insurance solutions
“Duty-to-prevent”

Increase ability to have national drr assessment strategies, risk assessments International cooperating and access to early warning systems and drr information and assessment that need to be deliver to all by 2030.
“Duty-to-inform”

(urban/rural) disaster law, an urgent step-up of multi-stakeholder collaboration, coalitions of non-state actors and their flagship disaster adaptation initiatives?
“Duty-to-respond”

Unsupported substantial self-settlements without assistance shelter permanent shanti towns
“Duty-to-shelter”

Their objectives are to stay mobilized, accelerate climate action and streamline the implementation of the Paris Agreement, the Agenda for Action.

“Strengthening concrete action to bridge the gap between current commitments and the objective of emergency in the Paris Agreement”.

 

RE: Resolution 71/235, 71/256, Draft-Outcome-Document-of-Habitat-III-E

We take full account of the milestone achievements of the year 2015, in particular the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including the Sustainable Development Goals, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda of the third International Conference on Financing for Development, the Paris
Agreement adopted under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction for the period 2015–2030, the Vienna Programme of Action for Landlocked Developing Countries for the Decade 2014–2024, the Small Island Developing States Accelerated Modalities of Action Pathway and the Istanbul Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2011–2020. We also take account of the Rio Declaration on
Environment and Development, the World Summit on Sustainable Development, the World Summit for Social Development, the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development, the Beijing Platform for Action, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development and the follow-up to these conferences.

Adopt and implement disaster risk reduction and management, reduce vulnerability, build resilience and responsiveness to natural and human-made hazards, and foster mitigation of and adaptation to climate change;

We aim to achieve cities and human settlements where all persons are able to enjoy equal rights and opportunities, as well as their fundamental freedoms, guided by the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, including full respect for international law. In this regard, the New Urban Agenda is grounded in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, international human rights treaties, the Millennium Declaration and the 2005 World Summit Outcome. It is informed by other instruments such as the Declaration on the Right to Development.

Ensure environmental sustainability, by promoting clean energy and sustainable use of land and resources in urban development; by protecting ecosystems and biodiversity, including adopting healthy lifestyles in harmony with nature; by promoting sustainable consumption and production patterns; by building urban resilience; by reducing disaster risks; and by mitigating and adapting to climate change.

We acknowledge that in implementing the New Urban Agenda particular attention should be given to addressing the unique and emerging urban development challenges facing all countries, in particular developing countries, including African countries, least developed countries, landlocked developing countries and small island developing States, as well as the specific challenges facing middle-income countries. Special attention should also be given to countries in situations of conflict,
as well as countries and territories under foreign occupation, post-conflict countries, and countries affected by natural and human-made disasters.

We commit ourselves to strengthening the coordination role of national, subnational and local governments, as appropriate, and their collaboration with other public entities and non-governmental organizations in the provision of social and basic services for all, including generating investments in communities that are most vulnerable to disasters and those affected by recurrent and protracted humanitarian crises. We further commit ourselves to promoting adequate services, accommodation and opportunities for decent and productive work for crisis-affected persons in urban settings, and to working with local communities and local governments to identify opportunities for engaging and developing local, durable and dignified solutions while ensuring that aid also flows to affected persons and host communities to prevent regression of their development.

We acknowledge the need for governments and civil society to further support resilient urban services during armed conflicts. We also acknowledge the need to reaffirm full respect for international humanitarian law.

We recognize that cities and human settlements face unprecedented threats from unsustainable consumption and production patterns, loss of biodiversity, pressure on ecosystems, pollution, natural and human-made disasters, and climate change and its related risks, undermining the efforts to end poverty in all its forms and dimensions and to achieve sustainable development. Given cities’ demographic trends and their central role in the global economy, in the mitigation and adaptation efforts related to climate change, and in the use of resources and ecosystems, the way they are planned, financed, developed, built, governed and managed has a direct impact on sustainability and resilience well beyond urban boundaries.

We also recognize that urban centres worldwide, especially in developing countries, often have characteristics that make them and their inhabitants especially vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change and other natural and human-made hazards, including earthquakes, extreme weather events, flooding, subsidence, storms – including dust and sand storms – heat waves, water scarcity, droughts, water and air pollution, vector-borne diseases, and sea-level rise particularly affecting coastal areas, delta regions and small island developing States, among others.

We commit ourselves to facilitating the sustainable management of natural resources in cities and human settlements in a manner that protects and improves the urban ecosystem and environmental
services, reduces greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution, and promotes disaster risk reduction and management, by supporting the development of disaster risk reduction strategies and periodical
assessments of disaster risk caused by natural and human-made hazards, including standards for risk levels, while fostering sustainable economic development and protecting all persons’ well-being and quality of life through environmentally sound urban and territorial planning, infrastructure and basic services.

We commit ourselves to promoting the creation and maintenance of well-connected and well-distributed networks of open, multi-purpose, safe, inclusive, accessible, green, and quality public spaces; to improving the resilience of cities to disasters and climate change, including floods, drought risks and heat waves; to improving food security and nutrition, physical and mental health, and household and ambient air quality; to reducing noise and promoting attractive and liveable cities, human settlements and urban landscapes, and to prioritizing the conservation of endemic species.

We commit ourselves to strengthening the sustainable management of resources, including land, water (oceans, seas and freshwater), energy, materials, forests and food, with particular attention to the environmentally sound management and minimization of all waste, hazardous chemicals, including air and short-lived climate pollutants, greenhouse gases and noise, and in a way that considers urban–rural linkages, functional supply and value chains vis à vis environmental impact and sustainability, and that strives to transition to a circular economy while facilitating ecosystem conservation, regeneration, restoration and resilience in the face of new and emerging challenges.

We commit ourselves to strengthening the resilience of cities and human settlements, including through the development of quality infrastructure and spatial planning, by adopting and implementing integrated, age- and gender-responsive policies and plans and ecosystem-based approaches in line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction for the period 2015–2030; and by mainstreaming holistic and data-informed disaster risk reduction and management at all levels to reduce vulnerabilities and risk, especially in risk-prone areas of formal and informal settlements, including slums, and to enable households, communities, institutions and services to prepare for, respond to, adapt to and rapidly recover from the effects of hazards, including shocks or latent stresses. We will promote the development of infrastructure that is resilient and resource efficient and will reduce the risks and impact of disasters, including the rehabilitation and upgrading of slums and informal settlements. We will also promote measures for strengthening and retrofitting all risky housing stock, including in slums and informal settlements, to make it resilient to disasters in coordination with local authorities and stakeholders.

We commit ourselves to supporting moving from reactive to more proactive risk-based, all-hazards and all-of-society approaches, such as raising public awareness of risks and promoting ex-ante investments to prevent risks and build resilience, while also ensuring timely and effective local responses to address the immediate needs of inhabitants affected by natural and human-made disasters and conflicts. This should include the integration of the “build back better” principles into the post disaster recovery process to integrate resilience-building, environmental and spatial.

We strongly urge States to refrain from promulgating and applying any unilateral economic, financial or trade measures not in accordance with international law and the Charter of the United Nations that impede the full achievement of economic and social development, particularly in
developing countries.

We will integrate disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation and mitigation considerations and measures into age- and gender-responsive urban and territorial development and planning processes, including greenhouse gas emissions, resilience-based and climate-effective design of spaces, buildings and constructions, services and infrastructure, and nature-based solutions. We will promote cooperation and coordination across sectors, as well as build the capacities of local authorities to develop and implement disaster risk reduction and response plans, such as risk assessments concerning the location of current and future public facilities, and to formulate adequate contingency and evacuation procedures.

We will consider increased allocations of financial and human resources, as appropriate, for the upgrading and, to the extent possible, prevention of slums and informal settlements in the allocation of financial and human resources with strategies that go beyond physical and environmental improvements to ensure that slums and informal settlements are integrated into the social, economic, cultural and political dimensions of cities. These strategies should include, as applicable, access to sustainable, adequate, safe and affordable housing, basic and social services, and safe, inclusive, accessible, green and quality public spaces, and they should promote security of tenure and its regularization, as well as measures for conflict prevention and mediation.

We will promote the development of adequate and enforceable regulations in the housing sector, including, as applicable, resilient building codes, standards, development permits, land use by-laws and ordinances, and planning regulations; combating and preventing speculation, displacement, homelessness and arbitrary forced evictions; and ensuring sustainability, quality, affordability, health, safety, accessibility, energy and resource efficiency, and resilience. We will also promote differentiated analysis of housing supply and demand based on high-quality, timely and reliable disaggregated data at the national, subnational and local levels, considering specific social, economic, environmental and cultural dimensions.

We will promote adequate investments in protective, accessible and sustainable infrastructure and service provision systems for water, sanitation and hygiene, sewage, solid waste management, urban drainage, reduction of air pollution and stormwater management, in order to improve safety in the event of water-related disasters; improve health; ensure universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all, as well as access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all; and end open defecation, with special attention to the needs and safety of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations. We will seek to ensure that this infrastructure is climate resilient and forms part of integrated urban and territorial development plans, including housing and mobility, among others, and is implemented in a participatory manner, considering, innovative, resource-efficient, accessible, context-specific and culturally sensitive sustainable solutions.

We will support decentralized decision-making on waste disposal to promote universal access to sustainable waste management systems. We will support the promotion of extended producer responsibility schemes that include waste generators and producers in the financing of urban waste management systems, that reduce the hazards and socio economic impacts of waste streams and increase recycling rates through better product design.

We will promote the integration of food security and the nutritional needs of urban residents, particularly the urban poor, in urban and territorial planning, in order to end hunger and malnutrition. We will promote coordination of sustainable food security and agriculture policies across urban, peri-urban and rural areas to facilitate the production, storage, transport and marketing of food to consumers in adequate and affordable ways in order to reduce food losses and prevent and reuse food waste. We will further promote the coordination of food policies with energy, water, health, transport and waste policies, maintain the genetic diversity of seeds and reduce the use of hazardous chemicals, and implement other policies in urban areas to maximize efficiencies and minimize waste.

We will explore and develop feasible solutions for climate and disaster risks in cities and human settlements, including through collaborating with insurance and reinsurance institutions and other relevant actors, with regard to investments in urban and metropolitan infrastructure, buildings and other urban assets, as well as for local populations to secure their shelter and economic needs.

We reaffirm the role and expertise of UN-Habitat, within its mandate, as a focal point for sustainable urbanization and human settlements, in collaboration with other United Nations system entities, recognizing the linkages between sustainable urbanization and, inter alia, sustainable
development, disaster risk reduction and climate change.

 

Source: HABITAT III NEW URBAN AGENDA Draft outcome document for adoption in Quito, October 2016

High Level Meeting on #NewUrbanAgenda and UN-Habitat

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE UNITED NATIONS

Setting the scene – High Level Meeting on New Urban Agenda and UN-Habitat – September 5 – September 6

To realise the potential, however, the challenges cannot be ignored. Urban populations continue to grow in much of the world, poverty and humanitarian crises and conflict are becoming increasingly urban phenomena, and the urban risks from climate change are intensifying. Concerted efforts, global, national and local, in both developed and developing countries, are urgently needed to address current challenges, alleviate increasing inequalities, and anticipate future threats. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Opportunities (encompassing the Sustainable
Development Goals, the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and the Addis Ababa Conference on Financing for Development) will not be met without serious attention to urban realities. The New Urban Agenda provides a roadmap for this
on-going transition, and UN-Habitat, with the entire UN development system, has a potentially critical role in supporting countries to effectively implement this Agenda.

The urban transition is essential to economic growth. Yet this basic reality is still unrecognised by many major actors, from national governments to international institutions, resulting in policies that limit migration in an attempt to slow urbanisation and restrict the access of local urban governments to development financing. Despite the restrictions, urban migration continues, and in the absence of inclusive and supportive policies and investment, this means limited opportunity for hard pressed new residents, growing backlogs in provision of services, increasing informality and the disappearance for many residents of the vaunted “urban advantage”. In many countries, for example, while rural child mortality rates are improving, in urban areas they are stagnating or
becoming worse. Poverty, hunger, disease, vulnerability to disaster, violence, are all becoming increasingly prevalent in many urban areas.
The urban transition will be more or less complete in fifty years. If it is not steered constructively now, the urban dividend could in many more
places become a disaster marked by inequality exclusion, inadequate basic service provision, humanitarian crises and growing civil strife.

The challenges in poor urban settlements are intensified in many areas by the mounting hazards associated with extreme weather. Cities, with their concentrations of population and assets, face high levels of risk, especially in coastal or riverside locations. Urban economies of scale and proximity can give cities a strong adaptive capacity, but the benefits seldom extend to all parts of a city. Informal settlements are often in the most hazardous locations – floodplains, hillsides at risk of landslides, sites close to industrial wastes – and unserved by the protective infrastructure that allows people to withstand extreme conditions – roads, drains, early warning systems and emergency services. Residents in poverty also have more limited capacity to prepare for, withstand and recover from a range of weather extremes. These same extremes, along with conflict, are pushing more people into towns and cities. By 2016, 80 million people globally were displaced by conflicts and disasters. Numbers keep climbing, and more than half end up now in towns and cities, adding to the burdens faced by overtaxed local authorities. Full blown conflict, often over access to land and scarce urban resources, has also become an increasingly common feature of urban areas, contributing to the emergence of the new category of the “fragile city.”

 

The call for action: The 2030 agenda and the New Urban Agenda

Recognising the critical need for action on pressing urban issues, government representatives at the Habitat III conference in Quito in 2016 adopted the New Urban Agenda (NUA), emphasising the links between urbanisation and development and the crucial need for inclusive and sustainable urban growth. The ambitious 2030 Agenda, adopted a year before the NUA, provides a critical overarching roadmap for this effort. Its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), designed for stimulating action in areas critical for humanity and the planet, include Goal 11 – making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. Without attention to this urban Goal, and to the urban implications of the other 16 Goals, none of the SDGs is likely to succeed. Together the NUA and SDGs point the way for cities to be part of sustainable global
development. Equally important in this endeavour are the Paris Climate Change Agreement, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda.

 

The scope of the commitment

Yet urban areas, with their growing majority of the global population, their concentration of both economic risk and potential, their vulnerability to climate-related disasters, and their relationships with surrounding areas, are not only relevant to realising this Agenda, they are central to its success, and the stage on which the SDGs will or will not be achieved. Most of the Goals necessarily have urban implications, and without significant attention to urban realities in all their manifestations and complexity, the ambitious objectives of the SDGs cannot be realised.

 

Public-private partnerships – ITU

ICTs for Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation for SIDS

THE HABITAT III INNOVATION and SUSTAINABILITY PRINCIPLE

#Principle10 and the Bali Guideline – #NuevaAgendaUrbana

Principle10

Principle 10 and the Bali Guideline

Bali Guideline Implementation Guide Published

“Environmental issues are best handled with participation of all concerned citizens, at the relevant level.” UNEP has launched the Spanish-language version of its Guidelines to the Implementation of Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration. Principle 10 sets out three fundamental rights: access to information, access to public participation and access to justice, as key pillars of sound environmental governance.

 

Learn more here: http://www.unep.org/civil-society/Implementation/Principle10/tabid/105013/Default.aspx

 

Analysis – Rumour has it: Innovation lurks in the shadows of the #NewUrbanAgenda

This post has been in the making for a long time… in my head at least, if not on paper. I first thought I would write it after the civil society hearings for Habitat III in NY in early June, then postponed it until after the last round of inter-sessionals and informal negotiations at the end of June. But time was at a premium, and there was enough coverage, analysis and reflection from the Earth News Bulletin, Citiscope, Cities Today and Next City, so I didn’t feel I had much to add. Sure, it was an interesting process and one in which stakeholders felt included and heard and empowered… especially as several of our proposals, including a call to establish an International Multi-Stakeholder Panel on Sustainable Urbanisation, and the acknowledgement of the General Assembly of Partners, made it into the draft NUA released on 18 July, which formed the basis for negotiations in Surabaya.

Going in to PrepCom3, 25-27 July, we were offered a sense of hope by the co-facilitators, and key groupings of Member States, that an agreement would be reached on large sections of the NUA, if not the entire document, in Surabaya. This turned out to be a false aspiration, as we now know, as talks progressed in fits and starts, and ultimately stalled after almost 48 hours of nearly uninterrupted, exhausting negotiations. A new draft was issued on the 27th of July, setting off disgruntled murmurs among Member States about not being given adequate time to review it, and then yet another one on the 28th, at the end of the PrepCom, for them to take home, review and consult (look at all the different iterations here). It was agreed that they would reassemble in New York at unspecified dates, three to four weeks hence, to resume the discussions, so that, hopefully, an agreement can be achieved before Quito, and deliberations at the Conference can begin to focus on implementation (see Citiscope’s despairing article on the fragility of the process, also noting comments on why it is not as bad as it appears to be.)

The statements from Member States in the Main Committee and the revised versions of the document issued in the course of the Surabaya meeting had little to offer to stakeholders. Most of our proposals fell victim to a mass cull of elements that appeared to threaten status quo. Politics makes for strange bedfellows indeed. The US, EU and G-77 seemed to be in perfect harmony, for a change, for instance when they all called for deleting references to the General Assembly of Partners (GAP), ostensibly for different reasons, but obviously with the same result – a rejection of any attempts to expand stakeholder engagement in international processes, as well as the implementation of international agreements, beyond the usual suspects, whether a handful of New York-based major groups for the former (international process), or a few handpicked favourite NGOs and CBOs, for the latter (implementation). Several individual states expressed their support in private, but only offered ‘lukewarm defence’ of the proposition in the Main Committee, where it mattered.

This, and other developments, and a scan of the 28 July draft, set me thinking, and hence the title of this post – where is innovation in the New Urban Agenda? She does seem to be around, lurking in the shadows, occasionally making an appearance, desparate for recognition, but not making much headway in the absence of so much as a welcoming glance. Where will she find a home?

Let us begin with the process. Most people agree that the Habitat III process as it was conceived was fairly innovative – coming as it did at the heels of the generally satisfactory process of stakeholder engagement in the SDGs, it had to at least match that, if not go further. The 22 issue papers were led by UN agencies. The 10 Policy Units brought in the collective wisdom of 200 experts. Systematic stakeholder engagement was encouraged, which led to support for the Global Task Force (GTF), invited to lead the hearings of Member States with local authorities, and the General Assembly of Partners (GAP), facilitating the same for civil society stakeholders, in New York in June. This was remarkably different from the Major Groups system, not only in that it included many groups that didn’t find a voice, or at least, an equally loud voice, through the nine major groups, but also that it allowed a range of non-New York-based organisations and individuals to participate in the process, by offering them travel support. GAP is a self-organised platform of (now) 16 Partner Constituent Groups, with two co-chairs from different organisations, usually from different regions, and often gender-balanced. Overall, the 32 member GAP Executive Committee (about to be expanded to 34 as we have just welcomed our 16th Partner Constituent Group – Persons With Disabilities) includes 18 women and 14 men, from across all continents. Many of them have never engaged in high-level UN processes before. But they have all had an equal chance to articulate issues and priorities important to them and their constituencies, comprising at least 58000 organisations and networks, adding up to an outreach of nearly 1 billion people. They did this through stakeholder statements in the plenary sessions of all preparatory and intersessional meetings, written submissions, meetings with the Bureau, meetings with co-facilitators, interviews with media covering the process (see Rose Molokoane’s impassioned, articulate statement on grassroots’ inclusion here), language suggestions on successive drafts, and of course corridor chats and conversations over coffee and lunch. Limited time to make statements before Member States meant that very often, groups had to caucus and collaborate on joint statements. Shared google documents meant that people could comment on each other’s statements and reinforce key messages. A final, consolidated GAP statement was always offered, which highlighted common messages and exhorted Member States to remember why they had gathered in the room – to agree on how to realize sustainable, inclusive urbanisation for all urban and rural inhabitants, especially the most marginalized and vulnerable. Proposals from the GAP Partnerships document were offered, elaborated, rephrased, adjusted and debated inside and on the margins of the main meetings.

Many Member State representatives expressed their pleasant surprise at the level of organisation and coordination among stakeholders, one that is not often seen in the major groups system. The result, as I said before, was the inclusion of 3 of our 6 key propositions, and several key phrases and concepts critical to the various constituencies – right to the city, empowerment of local and sub-national governments, gender equality, youth empowerment, recognition of the contribution of grassroots groups and the informal economy, a clear emphasis on decent work, focus on essential public services, land, mobility, disasters and humanitarian crises, children in vulnerable situations, etc. – in the initial drafts of the New Urban Agenda. Process innovation, thus, also resulted in the inclusion of progressive content in the document.

The challenge, however, was to do this systematically – to identify the most progressive propositions from the Policy Unit reports, the declarations of regional and thematic meetings, and various submissions articulating positions of Member States and stakeholders – cluster and include them in the early drafts, or use them as a checklist for later versions once these had pulled apart, threadbare, by the negotiators. This systematization seems to have been a weak link, possibly hampered by the delayed appointment of the co-facilitators, multiple agendas being pursued within the 12-member Bureau, or an overstretched Secretariat. The absence of a clear justification for inclusion of key themes and proposals could also have been a contributing factor towards their exclusion.

Some of the most transformative propositions on implementation, follow-up, monitoring and review, also came from stakeholders. The one that received most attention, and survived the longest in the document, was to establish the multi-stakeholder panel on sustainable urbanization, as mentioned earlier in this post. It created discussion, member states asked fundamental questions, forcing GAP, which had made the proposal, to think deeper and refine its own proposition, look for precedence and examples, and explore the institutional and administrative implications of the panel. Yet, they failed to be convinced. G-77 felt, perhaps unknowingly encouraged by UN-Habitat itself, that setting up and independent knowledge platform would weaken the normative agenda of the organization that they were trying to strengthen. The US ruled it out on account of potential resource requirements. Most surprisingly, the European Union also failed to agree within its own coordination to support it, in the belief that it might actually strengthen UN-Habitat… or perhaps they have another agenda (rumour has it that a proposal for setting up a new UN cities agency, an alternative to UN-Habitat located somewhere in western Europe, is ready, and an announcement imminent). Anyway, after a tough fight, in the 28 July edition of the New Urban Agenda, the Panel was eliminated from the document.

The panel, however, was not the only creative proposal put forth by stakeholders. One of the criticisms of the implementation of the Habitat Agenda of 1996 was that it wasn’t systematically monitored or reviewed. To address this, stakeholders presented two ideas. First, that all monitoring and reporting on the NUA involves stakeholders, and uses disaggregated, quantitative and qualitative data and evidence, including case studies and good practices, collected from the bottom-up, to complement official national statistics. And second, that the World Urban Forum, which meets biennially and is arguably the most important and inclusive global gathering of urban thinkers, practitioners and advocates, is strengthened and transformed into an arena for multi-stakeholder reporting on the implementation of the New Urban Agenda. Stakeholders have advocated that WUF, which usually spans five days, be split into two parts – one where there is a freewheeling exchange of ideas and innovations, and one where a broad range of actors including national, sub-national and local governments, and the entire spectrum of stakeholders – for an illustration look at the 16 PCGs of GAP here – voluntarily report on the progress made in the implementation of the NUA. These proposals, too, made their way into the initial drafts, but have been significantly diluted since – the first one because it challenges national governments’ vice-like grip on data and statistics, and the second because it is (once again) conflated with the issue of strengthening UN-Habitat and its initiatives (including the World Urban Forum).

In addition to the above, GAP also suggested that realizing a sustainable urban future needed a break from business as usual, and that innovative ideas coming from all possible sources – local governments, grassroots, civil society, professionals, research and academia, business and industry, among others – must be harnessed. Nothing new or dramatic there. But its proposal of setting up a Partners’ Lab (or Labs) for Urban Sustainability, to test ideas and approaches and prototypes before scaling them up, didn’t make much headway, possibly because of perceived resource implications. The New Urban Agenda thus does not offer any mechanisms to encourage, support or mainstream innovative practices for sustainable or inclusive urbanization.

So here we are, back from Surabaya, en route to Quito, via New York. Most of those who read the Surabaya draft of the New Urban Agenda will agree that it is not a bad document. The structure is acceptable, the declaration has significantly improved over time, the vision could be bolder but it is not entirely uninspiring. It has all the key ingredients for sustainable urbanization, sprinkled across the document. It is concise and though the language is often a bit loose, especially in the view of academics and professionals, it is not incoherent. So, it’s a “good enough” document, once that will allow all of us to align whatever we do with “provisions of the New Urban Agenda.”

But, it is also important to recognize that the language of the New Urban Agenda is not progressive, failing to raise the bar on process, themes, implementation arrangements, or monitoring, leaving that task to yet-to-be agreed processes to emerge organically sometime in the undetermined future. This is a particularly important missed opportunity for a non-binding document, which offers the unique possibility of moving beyond the norm, pushing the boundaries of the envelope beyond “agreed language”. In our case, recognizing the inclusion of sixteen different constituencies in the process of development of the NUA, and more importantly, potentially in the urbanization process over the next twenty years, would be a quantum leap over focusing on the “HABITAT Agenda Partners” (a legacy of Habitat II, 1996) and equally, over the established major group system which offers limited accessibility and engagement opportunities to diverse stakeholders based in different corners of the globe. Setting up an international panel on sustainable urbanization, an IPCC-type body but one that involves not just scientists but all stakeholders, which elevates urbanization to the highest level of political priority while at the same time making it a household concern, would help move the discourse forward by leaps and bounds. Multi-stakeholder monitoring systems would for the first time ensure that the power of data, information, evidence, is shared by all, not manipulated by a few. And the Declaration of a Decade of Sustainable Urbanisation would help bring many many initiatives together under a common umbrella, helping to maintain the focus on this mega-trend with its associated mega-challenges over the next ten years.

But alas, as I said, innovation has no friends this particular room, among Member States negotiating the most important global agreement on sustainable urbanization, with implications for the next two decades and beyond.

Thankfully, however, she continues to flourish on the ground, away from the noise in the Main Committee, often driven by stakeholders, local authorities and UN-Habitat’s staff who go quietly about their business. The agency’s work on rolling out the International Guidelines on Urban and Territorial Planning is supplemented by field-based planning labs in several cities across the world. Housing and land continue to be strong areas of focus. National Urban Policies are in great demand. Public space and protection of the commons is an important priority. The City Prosperity Initiative shows the way in monitoring SDG 11. Field-based deployments are expand and strengthened – think Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan (not for the faint-hearted), or Nepal and Ecuador (not for those looking for a standard, cookie-cutter approach to post-crisis (??) recovery and reconstruction), or India and South Africa (not for those who cannot manage an incredibly challenging political environment). Diverse requests from various international bodies, cities, regions and countries, on policy and operational matters related to planning, housing, governance, economic development, legislation, etc., are addressed and managed on a regular basis. Old partnerships are deepened, new ones readily explored. Indeed, UN-Habitat’s normative strength is reinforced by its extensive work in the field, in collaboration with a wide range of stakekeholders, across 60+ countries. No other organization – so far – has demonstrated the same combination of expertise, skill sets, experience or reach, required to coordinate and drive the implementation of the New Urban Agenda.

Not supporting the UN agency which has the most extensive and long-standing experience in urban development, the confidence of stakeholders, the support of local authorities, and one that has regularly reinvented itself to meet the challenges of the times, grappling with a broad mandate, growing demand and declining resources, is in my view yet another missed opportunity in the HABITAT III process and the New Urban Agenda. No doubt that UN-Habitat needs change, and in some ways a fresh approach, but recent appointments in its senior management indicate that it may have turned a corner, and should send a positive signal to donors and partners. Like a phoenix, it may yet rise again to assume its legitimate role and responsibility in driving and coordinating the global effort towards sustainable urbanization, even with a “good enough” New Urban Agenda. The stakeholders are certainly keeping their fingers crossed.

/Shipra Narang Suri
Vice-President at General Assembly of Partners/ Habitat III

ICLEI Updates From Surabaya At HABITATIII #H3PrepCom3

here is an overview of 27 july and early hours of 28 July

1- Side event of ICLEI and University Tekniki Malaysia, focusing on advancing sustainability  of  Asian cities and regions effectively reflected the diversity of topic in the region through its multinational (Malaysia, S. Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Germany, India), multilevel (local, regional, national governments), multistakeholder (governments at all level – research and academia – finance partners) structure. Mr. Datuk HJ. Mohammad Bin Mentek, Secretary General of Malaysian Ministry of Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government and Head of Malaysian Delegfation at HabitatIII PrepCom3 in Surabaya also delivered a warm and encouraging closing remark, congratulating all partners and inviting an active collaboration in the preparation of World Urban Forum9 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in February 2018.

2- Around midday, Co-Facilitators circulated a revised version of draft NUA as of 27 July. The text had revised paragraphs except para.8 (related to Right to the City)  and Section C Follow-u and Review (as Eu and Colombia noted that informal informals had not reached a conclusion yet.) After brief exchanges, Co-facilitators announced to reconvene at 17:00

3- At the plenary of Main Committee at 17:00, many Member States expressed frustration and dissapointment on the process, in particular lack of clarity on how to close agreed paragraphs, reflection of already communicated texts and next steps. While some delegations expressed general views, some delegations continue to submit new and additional textual proposals. The discussions also started to focus on the way forward between Surabaya and Quito as it became clear that the draft will not be adopted in Surabaya. Meanwhile no new text was communicated on Section.C

conflict

4- In the early hours of the morning, Co-Facilitators convened the plenary, suggested to circulate a new text in the next hour in their personal capacity taking into account the views and results of Section C informals and invited delegations to consider an informal informal in New York City at UN HQ in early September. There were no objection to this proposal.

5- Around 02:30 on 28 July, Secretariat 2 documents; draft report of the Main Committee (negotiations on draft NUA) and draft report of the PrepCom3.

6- Around 03:30 on 28 July, first Main Committee and then PrepCom3 Plenary convened and adopted the circulated documents, with subject to further updates by the Rappertouer as appropriate. Meanwhile, Joan Clos in its capacity as the Secretary of the Conference announced new webportal to announce Quito Action Plan and invited all stakeholders to upload their commitments. During the closing remarks, delegations expressed appreciations to Co-Facilitators, Indonesia government as well as people and Mayor of Surabaya.

7- The PrepCom3 concluded at 04:30 on 28 July Thursday.

7- It has to be noted that altough para.12 of the UNGA Resolution 70/210 (Rules of Procedures of Prep Com) reinvited Bureau of PrepCom3 to circulate a draft outcome document at least 6 months before the Conference, neither the Report of the Main Committee nor the prepCom3 Report included any reference to any official document with appropriate documentation number. The Conference website were uploaded with link to documents of 6 May, 18 June and 18 July, without any official document number.

8- As of 28 July 14:00 Indonesia time,  the Conference website did not contain any link to the Report of the Main Committee nor any draft text as of 27 July. https://www.habitat3.org/prepcom3/papersmart

9- Around 10:00 on 28 July Thursday, the H3 Secretariat circulated a new draft NUA as of 28 July. The text is attached. It has to be noted that the document contains no information whether this is a product of Co-facilitators. The version as of 28 July contained significant changes to version as of 27 July, including a string dedicated paragaraph 7 in the Declaration recognizing 2nd local and regional governments and their 2nd World Assembly. There are some significant changed in other sections and a totally new Section C Follow-up and Review is also included which seemed to be a convergence document between version as of 18 july and proposals of EU presented on 26 July, containing numerous brackets as well as 2 options in para.164 regarding options the wwqy forward for strengthening UNhabitat. The reference to an International Multistakeholder Panel on Sustainable Urbanization, the only innovative outcome expected to  be announced as n outcome/legacy of H3 remained in the version of as of 18 july was also removed in this version 28 July.

10- It may be possible to expect an informal informal meeting to be convened in NYC at UN HQ in the first week of September.

Here is a brief coverage of 26 July Tuesday

1- In the morning, Co-facilitators met with stakeholders. GTF speakers highlighted the need to engage local and regional governments appropriately in the implementation as well as follow-up and review.

2- At the Plenary, stakeholders delivered their official statements. Intervention of local and regional governments was delivered by Maimunah Mohd Sharif, Municipal President, Municipal Council Of Seberang Perai, Malaysia; President, Malaysian Association of Local Authorities (MALA); Member, ICLEI Global Executive Committee. Follow the links to reach the text and video of the intervention.

3- Follow the link to access the ppt of ICLEI session at Urban Speakers Corner.

4- The main committee continued hearings from Member States for their inputs to Declaratiuon, Section A Commitments, B- Means of Implmentation. The committee reconvened at 19:30 to focus on section C Follow up and review. The African Union reiterated its position for the strengthening of UNhabitat and its new mandate for the New urban Agenda. US and EU reiterated their wish to focus on the substance of NUA at  H3 and continue discussions on its further follow up and review in connection with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as well as UN General Assembly related process. Specific and substantial textual proposals were presented by the EU. G77/China responded with a positive spirit for a convergence on main subjects.

5- Informal informal negotiations continue over the night, including a stocktaking plenary by Co-Facilitators at 03:30. G77, EU, US reported about progress achieved so far and asked for additional time. Co-facilitators proposed to reconvene the plenary at 11.00 on 27 July wednesday and commit to share a revised version of the sections on Declaration, Sections A and B and results from the informal informals from Section C on follow and review.

Things to follow on 27 July Wednesday

1- A partial calendar of official negotiation sessions is available on conference homepage

2- Main committee is planned to reconvene at 11:00.

2- ICLEI and Universiti Tekniki Malaysia will host their joint side event “Advancing Sustainability of Asian Cities and Regions” at 13:30 at Crystal Room:4, including speakers from Seberang Perai, Seoul Metropolitan Government and Iskender Regional Authority. Citynet will convene another side event at the same time at Crystal Room:1

3- Timing of closing plenary  will be announced during the day based on the progress achieved in the negotiations. General Assembly of Partners will convene at 1830 and throughout the day an additional session of Co-Facilitators with stakeholders may be scheduled.

Here is a summary of 25 July Monday

1- PrepCom3 agreed on modalities and agenda of H3 in Quito,

2- Chile representative assigned as the Acting Co-Chair in Surabaya in place of Ecuador,

3- Plenary started to hear general comments from Parties, no time left for Stakeholder interventions, will continue on Tuesday

4- Main Committee established to conduct informals on draft outcome, held its first session, started hearing views of parties on the Declaration, but suspended the session upon request of G77/China, will re-convene on Tuesday.

5- UCLG launched GTF publication summarizing H3 journey at Urban Speakers Corner

6- Cities Alliance side event convened at lunch time

7- City of Surabaya hosted cultural event (personally speaking, this was the best organization i had ever attended at an intergovernmental conference since 2002, hats-off to Mayor and People of City of Surabaya)

8- A very inspiring article is published at Citiscope by Ulrich Graute on UN negotiations and engaging local governments. Another important coverage by Gregg Scruggs is also available. Another Op-Ed is released by Nicola Paula at ENB prior to the start of the Surabaya

and things to look for 26 July Tuesday

1- an informal daily programme of negotiations is released at H3 PrepCom3 homepage, that contains a partial coverage of all event.

2- Plenary for statements will start at 10:00 at level:3 (expected to offer slots for Mayor Groups and Other Stakeholders), main committee will start at 10:00 at level:4

3- GAP Prep meeting will convene at 08:30 at level:4, Co-facilitators will meet with Major Groups and Other Stakeholders at 09:00 at level:4

4- Transport Day will convene at Hotel Sheraton between 13:00 – 17:00. ICLEI member City of Johannesburg will share updates on Johannesburg Ecomobility Festival held in September 2015 at the closing plenary.

5- At the lunch time, WRI will convene its side event

6- ICLEI will host a session at Urban Speakers Corner at Exhibit area at the ground floor at 15:30. Speakers areMaimunah Mohd Sharif, Municipal President, Municipal Council Of Seberang Perai, Malaysia; President, Malaysian Association of Local Authorities (MALA); Member, ICLEI Global Executive Committee and Emani Kumar, Regional Director, ICLEI South Asia Secretariat; Deputy Secretary General, ICLEI World Secretariat. Title is “Globalizing Integrated Transformative Actions to Ensure Sustainability of the Urban World 2030”

6- At 19:30, Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly of Partners will convene at Crystal Room

/YUNUS ARIKAN

Source: ICLEI