AHMEDABAD, Gujarat: The Sherpa Meeting of Urban 20 held in Ahmedabad, Gujarat on February 9-10.
The meeting began with welcome remarks by Amdavad Mayor Kirit J Parmar. He said that Amdavad is proud to host delegates from around the world at the U20 event in which the discussions will form a part of U20 Communique which will be presented at the G20 Summit in September. Next speaker in the plenary session was Amitabh Kant, G20 Sherpa for 2023 Cycle hosted by India.
In a special address on ‘G20- Call for Action’, Kant said, “Car companies in Europe and America bought the railways and destroyed public transport… We need to reverse the trend. We need to make cities for people, utilising public transport and not for cars.”He said that U20 engagement group must submit precise, crisp and actionable suggestions to G20.
Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India addressed the gathering virtually. He said, “As we look to harness and secure the economic potential of the world’s leading cities, it is imperative that we do this in a sustainable manner. The recently concluded COP27 on climate change and COP15 on Biodiversity have reiterated the urgent need to enhance urban resilience so that cities are equipped to deal with global stresses and shocks.” He also stressed on the importance of finance for the cities to achieve their goals. He said, “I hope that this Urban 20 group can be the forum where innovative financial instruments are conceptualised even as concrete steps are taken to accelerate climate finance. I see Urban 20 as a great opportunity for global peer-learning.”
Chief Minister of Gujarat Bhupendra Patel said, “Cities do not just create economic opportunities for people but also become centres of social, economic, and cultural hub in countries.” Praising the city of Ahmedabad for its confluence of historical and modern sensibilities, he said, “While maintaining its cultural heritage, Ahmedabad has also adopted modern urban planning via Transit-Oriented Development. These have been developed keeping in mind the needs of the economically weaker sections.”
After the plenary session, a session on Priorities, Advocacy, and Way Forward was held wherein various presentations from several working groups were made, including the Infrastructure Working Group, the Disaster Risk Reduction Working Group, and the Digital Economy Working Group.
Manoj Joshi, Secretary, MoHUA, spoke about the need of sustainable urbanisation in times when urban boundaries are expanding and number of people living in urban areas is on the rise.
Kamal Kishore, Chair – Disaster Risk Reduction Working Group said, “Global disaster response system is broken. It should be reformed, upgraded and brought to the level of 21st century.”
All the delegates also observed one minute silence to show solidarity with Turkey and Syria which have suffered massive destruction and loss of lives due to the recent earthquake in their region.
During the meeting, six priority areas of U20 were presented. Praveen Chaudhary, Sherpa of Amdavad City, said that these priority areas are critical for inspiring city level actions to respond to global agendas. These are: Encouraging Environmentally Responsible Behaviours; Ensuring Water Security; Accelerating Climate Finance; Championing ‘Local Identity’; Reinventing Frameworks for Urban Governance and Planning; and Catalysing Digital Urban Futures.
In the open discussion, city Sherpas from Madrid, Paris, New York, and Durban among others intervened and called for action.