G20: New Delhi declaration focuses on inclusive, resilient and sustainable cities of tomorrow

NEW DELHI: The declaration adopted by the G20 countries during the leaders’ summit, held in Delhi on Saturday, emphasises the urgent need to focus on inclusive, resilient and sustainable cities of tomorrow. New Delhi Declaration calls for enhanced and better mobilisation of finances, efficient use of existing resources and multilateral development banks and development finance institutes to explore the opportunity to plan and finance urban infrastructure.    

Stakeholders have also been urged to share their experiences from the pilot cases. The declaration further endorses G20 principles for financing cities of tomorrow, G20/OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) Report on Financing Cities of Tomorrow and the G20/ADB (Asian Development Bank) Framework on Capacity Building of Urban Administration. 

These voluntary but vital principles are the outcome of detailed discussions and multiple rounds of talks held under the different working groups of the G20 framework. Though these principles are non-binding in nature, they will guide the stakeholders to customise the financing strategies and innovation as per their requirements, said Hitesh Vaidya, Director of National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA).

Other key priority areas, including water security, climate, championing local identity and economy and catalysing digital urban future, also found their way into the New Delhi declaration of the G20. A communiqué framed on the bedrock of the abovementioned six priority areas was handed over to the G20 leadership during the Urban-20 mayoral summit held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat in the month of July. In this regard, the NIUA Director said, “This is for the first time that ‘cities’ and ‘urban’ have been mentioned a number of times. Before this, the word ‘urban’ appeared only twice in all G20 declarations.”

Similarly, Shruti Narayan, Regional Director for South and West Asia, C-40, which was also the convenor of the urban-20 mayoral summit, said, “It is important to understand that the lens to look at cities or financing them has to be cross-sectoral and the declaration has addressed this through many facets […] The inclusion of climate change in the preamble and the fact that the GHG emissions are on the rise is critical for G20 to address and acknowledge”.

She also welcomed the inclusion of issues such as ecological degradation, cost of living crisis, clean and just energy transition, addressing consumption-based emissions with the help of Mission LiFE Programme, creating jobs for sustainable growth and realigning the focus on 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Narayan said, “The G20 declaration has clearly represented the voice of global south, there is a clear acknowledgement that the world needs to take urgent and accelerated action on climate that has to focus on just energy transition, and there needs to be funding for adaptation. There is also clear inclusion on low-cost financing for supporting less developed countries, MDB reforms and leveraging private sector financing.”

Vaidya added, “A notable acknowledgement of cities as drivers of change.” This shows the recognition of the role of urban areas in countering global challenges, including climate action, sustainable development and disaster risk reduction. The declaration further recognises the need for better financing and planning in the global south to create an inclusive, resilient and sustainable urban environment. He added, “The focus on circular economy and launching of resource efficiency and circular economy industry coalition is a great boost to India’s commitment on Waste Management and move towards zero waste.”