Seventh GEF Assembly Roundtable - Building Cities for People and Planet

Roundtable: Building Cities for People and Planet – Promoting decisive actions on integrating nature in future urban growth

Date: Thursday 24 August                              Time: 14:00-15:30 PDT                 

Location: Vancouver Convention Center, Room 206

With more than half of the world's population living in urban areas, cities have a significant impact on the environment, while being at the forefront of the consequences of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. Cities also present immense opportunities to tackle these challenges through appropriate policies, planning, investments, and innovations. These opportunities and their leadership can make them key global actors to achieve global climate, nature, and sustainability goals necessary for healthy planet and healthy people.

Convened by the GEF in collaboration with UNEP-led UrbanShift (GEF-7) and the World Bank’s Global Platform for Sustainable Cities (GEF-6), the high-level Roundtable at the Seventh GEF Assembly in Vancouver, Canada will explore the ways in which cities can take decisive action and use integrated and nature-based solutions to promote greener and low carbon development and foster a healthier relationship of cities with surrounding ecosystems.

Key discussion topics:

• The importance of cities and their political leadership in contributing to global climate and biodiversity targets including in the context of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.  
• Approaches, actions, and emerging lessons from city-led initiatives including through the GEF’s Sustainable Cities Program.
• Key challenges that cities face in integrating nature, specifically in accessing finance, and how GEF and its partners can play a catalytic role.
• Identify innovative and disruptive solutions around policies, financing and planning towards building net-zero, nature-positive, resilient, and inclusive cities. 

Speakers:

• Aloke Barnwal, Coordinator, Sustainable Cities Program, GEF  
• Andrea Fernandez, Managing Director, Climate Finance, Knowledge and Partnerships, C40  
• Ani Dasgupta, President and CEO, WRI  
• Bruno Carrasco, Director-General, Climate Change and Sustainable Development Department (CCSD) (and ADB/GEF Executive Coordinator, Asian Development Bank (Confirmed) 
• Cinthia Guerreño, General Director of Environmental Management, Municipality of Asunción, Paraguay  
• Ines Rocha, Managing Director for Impact and Partnerships, EBRD 
• Isabella de Roldao, Deputy Mayor of Recife, Brazil   
• Maria Helena Semedo, Deputy Director-General, FAO  
• Maryke van Staden, Director of the Carbonn Climate Center, ICLEI
• Miriam Miranda, Project Coordinator, Organization for Tropical Studies   
• Rob Wing, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Environment, U.S. Department of State
• Sunday Leonard, Programme Management Officer, GEF Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel  
• Susan Gardner, Director, Ecosystems Division, UN Environment Programme  
• Tommy Garnett, Executive Director at Environmental Foundation for Africa, Sierra Leone
• Valerie Hickey, Global Director, Environment, Natural Resources and Blue Economy, the World Bank 
• Valérie-Noëlle Kodjo Diop, Director for Innovation & Sustainable Development, West African Development Bank (BOAD)