Vatican, 24 July 2015 – Mayors from cities around the world have signed a declaration at a symposium on sustainable cities which includes a commitment of mayors and other partners to contribute to implementation of the urban Sustainable Development Goal.

The meeting, co-led by the Pontificial Academy of Sciences and Jeffrey Sachs' UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, resulted in a declaration on An Alliance for Sustainable Cities, and an agreement to a further meeting on the eve of the post-2015 summit to be held in September this year.

Decision-makers who guide urban development need the most reliable and current information possible upon which to act. Unfortunately a good deal of information – some contradictory, not all trustworthy – is in circulation regarding climate change and its potential effects upon cities. It is not always clear what represents the scientific consensus.

Bonn 10 June 2015—UN-Habitat hosted a side event at the Bonn Climate Change Conference where participants discussed cities as well as the new urban agenda. The Bonn conference was organised by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) under the theme Cities and Climate Change: from new climate agenda to new urban agenda and brought together some 60 participants drawn from across the globe.

Oslo, 17 March 2015 - More than 30 experts from around the world met in Oslo, Norway last week 2-3 March for a two-day expert group meeting on global Guidelines for City Climate Action Plans. The meeting was organized by UN-Habitat in close collaboration with Cities Alliance Joint Work Programme Partners, UNEP and the World Bank.

UN-Habitat Cities and Climate Change Initiative (CCCI) Newsletter.

In this issue (October 2014):

- ‘City’ Initiatives Launched at UN Climate Summit

- UN-Habitat’s Deputy Executive Director chairs Cities Forum

- Local Governments implementing climate change and disaster risk reduction into land use plans

- Honiara Vulnerability Assessment finds application

New York, 23 September 2014 – United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and UN Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change Michael R. Bloomberg today announced the launch of a global Compact of Mayors, the world’s largest effort for cities to fight climate change. The Compact will enable cities to publicly commit to deep GHG emissions reductions; make existing targets and plans public; and report on their progress annually, using a newly-standardized measurement system that is compatible with international practices.

An estimated $1 trillion is needed every year to finance the infrastructure gap in low- and middle-income countries