Urban20, began in 2018 in Buenos Aires, is gradually becoming a stronger force in bringing local perspective or say urban perspective to the G20 agenda. The recent U20 event held in Ahmedabad was an example in which G20 Sherpa of this cycle Amitabh Kant underlined the importance of U20 and assured to take note of suggestions from U20 engagement group and inform G20 negotiations. A good start for cities.
Urban20 and its significance
Urban 20 (U20) is a diplomatic initiative that brings together mayors
and city leaders from G20 member countries to collaborate on urban issues
and develop policy recommendations to be presented to G20 leaders. It is a city-led initiative, for and by cities, to enable constructive exchanges between cities from G20 countries and the G20 as they meet annually to drive progress on the world’s biggest issues and opportunities.
U20 was launched in 2017 during the One Planet Summit in Paris as a response to the growing urbanization trend and the need for cities to have a stronger voice in global decision-making. The first U20 meet began in 2018. U20 Chair rotates like G20. And, generally a participating city from the country which holds the G20 presidency becomes chair of U20. All the cycles of U20 are co-convened by the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) and C40.
The U20 aims to facilitate cooperation and exchange of knowledge and experience among its member cities, promote innovative and sustainable urban development practices, and advocate for increased recognition of the role of cities in global governance.
Each year, the U20 holds a summit where mayors and city leaders from member cities come together to discuss and develop policy recommendations on key urban issues. The communique after getting inputs and approval of all participating cities is finalized and released during the mayoral summit that happens a month or two before the G20 Summit. The policy recommendations in the form of communique are then presented to G20 leaders during the G20 Summit for their consideration. The official handover of the U20 Communiqué from the U20 Chair, on behalf of all signatories, to the G20 Presidency Head of State is the most
important output.
The U20 currently has 38 member cities from around the world, including major cities such as New York, Paris, Tokyo, and Beijing, as well as several Indian cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru. Besides G20 countries, the Mayors and representatives of C40, UCLG member cities, and Observer Cities will participate in these events and enrich the discussions. During this year-long presidency, Ahmedabad will showcase its unique urban development and climate change initiatives and rich culture and heritage to the participants. Resonating with India’s G20 theme of ‘Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam’ – One Earth, One Family, One Future’, U20 Ahmedabad will emphasize that actions at the city level can drive lasting positive global outcomes underscoring the interconnectedness of the world and our shared future. The effort of this cycle will be to move from ‘intention to action’ and draft a roadmap for closing the gaps between policy and practice to address critical urban issues. The Communiqué, outcome document reflecting the aspirations of the participating cities, will be presented by the Mayor of Ahmedabad to the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India or his representative.
This year, Ahmedabad is the host city of U20 events. The first city Sherpa meeting was held during Feb 9-10 and the U20 Mayoral Summit is scheduled for July 7-8, 2023. The National Institute of Urban Affairs is providing technical support to the Host City in organizing the events and other activities during the 2023 cycle of U20. Urban Update along with C40 and NIUA is the editorial partner for bringing out the U20 Newsletters. The first newsletter was published by Urban Update for the City Sherpa Meet.
City Sherpa Meet
Outlining the relevance of this year’s U20 Summit, Hardeep S Puri, Union Minister for Housing & Urban Affairs and Petroleum & Natural Gas, in his audio-visual message at the inaugural City Sherpa Meeting of the 2023 Urban20 Engagement Group of the G20 said that resonating with the theme of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam – One Earth, One Family, One Future’, this year’s summit will be the crucible from which a framework for mutually beneficial and sustainable international economic cooperation will emerge.
In his audio-message at the event, the Minister elaborated on how India has increasingly led discourse and action on important issues of global governance in last few years. The transformational story of India’s urban rejuvenation since 2014 is one such example that has become a blueprint for other countries to learn from, particularly in the Global South, he added further.
Highlighting the importance of harnessing of economic potential of cities in a sustainable manner, Puri said that the recently concluded COP-27 on climate change and COP-15 on biodiversity have reiterated the urgent need to enhance urban resilience so that cities are equipped to deal with global stresses and shocks.
Another important concern for cities, the Minister said is to rethink traditional planning models in order to deliver desired socioeconomic outcomes. Comprehensive infrastructure development will necessitate a robust discussion on investments and financing, he said further.
The Minister expressed hope that this Urban 20 group can be the forum where innovative financial instruments are conceptualized even as concrete steps are taken to accelerate climate finance. Puri said that collective experiences of various participants and the lessons learnt during the deliberations in this inaugural meeting will help build a bold, visionary roadmap that can be shared with the G20 leaders.
The event was organised in Ahmedabad during February 9-10, 2023. About 70 delegates from close to 40 cities and more than 200 participants from observer cities, U20 Conveners, representatives from various working groups and engagement groups of the G20, senior officials from government, national and international organizations and other invited guests attended the event.
Chief Minister of Gujarat, Bhupendrabhai Patel, Mayor of Ahmedabad, Kiritkumar J Parmar, India’s G20 Sherpa, Amitabh Kant, were among other dignitaries to attend the opening ceremony. In his keynote address, Patel highlighted the rich urban legacy of Ahmedabad, a UNESCO World Heritage City, and recounted various urban development initiatives being undertaken by the Government of Gujarat under the guidance of Hon’ble Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi.
India’s G20 Sherpa, Amitabh Kant shared his thoughts on the importance of the U20 engagement group, given the importance of cities in taking forward the global sustainable development agenda. He gave a clarion call to all delegates to act as brand ambassadors of India’s G20 presidency and carry the message of de-globalising, de-carbonising and digitising cities. The U20 Conveners from C40 and UCLG facilitated a round of introductions by all the City Sherpas present at the meeting.
The second session explored areas of convergence between urban priorities and aspects being discussed as part of key G20 working groups. The session included presentations by Solomon Arokiraj, Chair, Infrastructure Working Group, Kamal Kishor, Coordinator, Disaster Risk Reduction Working Group and Dr Sandip Chatterjee, Member, Digital Economy Working Group. They stressed on the importance of collaboration and convergence of the G20 streams with U20. Manoj Joshi, Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs also made a special presentation on ‘India’s Urban Imperative’ highlighting the need for reforms in urban planning frameworks, infrastructure financing and moving towards sustainable services.
A special session was held to showcase the pioneering work being undertaken by Ahmedabad and other cities in Gujarat. The speakers Mukesh Kumar, Principal Secretary, Urban Development Department, Government of Gujarat, Keshav Varma, Chairperson, HLC of urban planners, urban economists and institutions, and Prof H M Shivanand Swamy – Professor Emeritus, CoE-UT spoke about successful examples of affordable housing, riverfront development and sustainable urban transport among others.
In the last session, city Sherpas from around the world discussed the urban issues and opportunities that they wished to discuss on priority with their G20 national government counterparts. Praveen Chaudhary, Sherpa for the city of Ahmedabad (U20 2023 Chair), presented the main issues that the city wishes to address during their leadership. Sri Hayati, Sherpa for the city of Jakarta (U20 2022 Chair) shared evidence of the impact that U20 can have by demonstrating that during Jakarta’s cycle, the U20 recommendations focused on infrastructure financing were reflected and endorsed by the G20 Leaders Bali Declaration. Over 20 international cities took part in the open floor discussion and responded to invitations issued by G20 dignitaries that morning, to continue dialogue between the G20 work streams and U20.
The inaugural day concluded with a city excursion for the delegates to Sabarmati Ashram and Atal Bridge. This was followed by a special programme hosted by the government of Gujarat at the Sabarmati Riverfront including a musical and dance performance and a Gala dinner, which was also graced by the Chief Minister.
The formal sessions on the second day commenced with the deliberations that are central to any U20 cycle, namely the meeting of the City Sherpas. In this session, moderated by the U20 Conveners, over the course of the first half of the day, the Ahmedabad Sherpa presented the proposed six priority areas for the sixth U20 cycle followed by rounds of deliberations on each priority. A number of participating and observer cities shared their views and expressed resonance with a number of the proposed priority areas. These were noted by the chair city and Praveen Chaudhary, the Ahmedabad Sherpa invoked the support of the U20 cities in taking forward this collaboration and collectively draft the final Communique.
In the second session, under the guidance of Sanjeev Sanyal, Member Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, the areas of convergence between other engagement groups of the G20 and the priorities of U20 were explored. The session included presentations by Chintan Vaishnav, Jhanvi Tripathi and Akash Jha from the Start-up 20 engagement group, Think 20 engagement group and Youth 20 engagement group, respectively. The session also included a presentation by Mona Khandhar the Principal Secretary, Economic Affairs, Government of Gujarat on Gujarat’s G20 engagement.
In the concluding session, Mayor of Ahmedabad, Kiritkumar J Parmar invited all delegates for the farewell dinner hosted at Kankaria Lake. M Thennarasan, Municipal Commissioner of Ahmedabad spoke about the urban initiatives being taken in Ahmedabad, following which he opened the floor to have an interactive session with the city delegates. City representatives highly appreciated the wonderful hospitality extended by Ahmedabad.
Urban 20 has to be seen as a great opportunity for global peer learning…Urban 20 group can be the forum where innovative financial instruments are conceptualised even as concrete steps are taken to accelerate climate finance
Hardeep S Puri
Union Minister for Housing & Urban Affairs at the inaugural City Sherpa Meeting of the 2023 Urban 20 Engagement Group of the G20