• During the event, a waste map, a first-ever global platform to use satellite monitoring to track and measure methane emissions from waste, was unveiled.
• The platform can be used to identify and mitigate methane emissions before they become hazardous.
Image: FILE.
Forty ministers have endorsed a raft of measures geared towards advancing healthier, sustainable and equitable human settlements in urban areas.
The ministers met during the COP28 Multilevel Action, Urbanisation, Built Environment and Transport Day held in partnership with the UN-Habitat and the UN Climate Change High-Level Champion for COP28.
After the meeting, new initiatives to drive climate action in cities, spanning buildings, waste, transport, water and nature were announced.
"Meeting the aims of the Paris Agreement and keeping 1.5°C within reach depends on the leadership and support of the world’s mayors and governors,” COP28 President Dr Al Jaber said.
Under Secretary General of UN-Habitat Maimunah Sharif said the ministerial meeting is key towards inclusive and climate-resilient cities and communities.
“A diverse range of stakeholders gathered, including leaders from the national and local levels, underscoring the shared priority of supporting urban environments to withstand climate challenges," Sharif said.
However, financing remains a critical bottleneck, with only 21 per cent of climate finance allocated to adaptation and resilience and only 10 per cent reaching the local level.
The COP28 Presidency and Bloomberg Philanthropies partnered to deliver the Local Climate Action Summit, which saw more than 500 subnational leaders join the summit portion of a COP for the first time.
Nearly USD $500 million (Sh76 billion) of new city-focused climate investment was also announced.
During the event, several initiatives were launched.
The France and Morocco-backed Buildings Breakthrough was launched with the support of 27 countries.
It aims to make ‘near-zero and resilient buildings’ the new normal by 2030, addressing the fact that the building sector alone accounts for nearly 40 per cent of global energy-related CO2 emissions, 50 per cent of extracted materials, and one-third of global waste.
The Cement and Concrete Breakthrough was launched with the aim of making clean cement the preferred choice in global markets, with near-zero-emission cement production established and growing in every region of the world by 2030.
The Waste to Zero initiative, a voluntary coalition made up of governments of all levels, NGOs and the private sector, was unveiled to decarbonise the waste management sector and transform waste into resources.
During the event, a waste map, a first-ever global platform to use satellite monitoring to track and measure methane emissions from waste, was unveiled.
The map was developed by the Global Methane Hub3, Google Foundation, Rocky Mountain Institute, Clean Air Taskforce (CATF), the Netherlands Institute for Space Research (SRON)/GHGSat and Carbon Mapper.
The platform can be used to identify and mitigate methane emissions before they become hazardous, and it is set to go live in 20 global megacities that are collectively home to more than 100 million people.
Countries are further committed to curbing the use of fossil fuels in land transport.
During the event, a playbook for nature-positive infrastructure development was unveiled.
The book has been developed in partnership with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC) and spotlights the construction sector’s role in conserving and restoring natural ecosystems.
The playbook draws from some of the world’s most important infrastructure projects to offer practitioners a wide range of nature-based solutions that put nature at the heart of infrastructure design.