The 17th session of the Global Forum on Human Settlements (GFHS), titled “Together for a safer and greener urban future: resilient, carbon-neutral and nature-positive cities”, took place virtually on 15-16 December 2022. IUCN was among the co-organisers of the event, in collaboration with a wide range of international organisations such as the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), C40, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the World Economic Forum.
The Global Forum kicked off with a series of opening remarks, in which Dr. Radhika Murti, Director of the Centre for Society and Governance at IUCN, highlighted the importance of addressing ecological footprints for cities to become nature positive. Dr. Murti outlined as well IUCN’s long-term commitment to support cities in preserving biodiversity at urban and peri-urban levels, improving citizens’ quality of life and well-being, reducing health-related risks and enabling social cohesion.
Loredana Scuto, IUCN Urban Programme Officer, contributed to the panel “Scale up Nature-based Solutions towards a greener urban future”, where she gave an overview of different IUCN tools, such as the Urban Nature Index and the Global Standard on Nature-based Solutions, which can concretely help subnational governments in working towards a carbon neutral future in urban environments.
More information on the event can be found here.