081 - Call for Nature in Cities agendas and Strengthening the IUCN Urban Alliance

081 - Call for Nature in Cities agendas and Strengthening the IUCN Urban Alliance

Latest version in this language: Version as adopted by electronic vote | Published on: 30 Sep 2021

RECALLING Resolution 6.029, Incorporating urban dimensions of conservation into the work of IUCN, which set out in detail the reasons for greater involvement in urban matters by IUCN; 

RECALLING Resolution 6.064 Strengthening cross-sector partnerships to recognise the contributions of nature to health, well-being and quality of life (Hawai‘i, 2016) which recognises that places, including urban areas, that have a rich natural heritage improve physical and mental health, as well as spiritual well-being and may increase appreciation of nature, including for the elderly; 

RECOGNISING that the New Urban Agenda approved by the United Nations in Habitat III (Quito, Ecuador, 2016) reaffirms the global commitment to sustainable urban development and a common ideal for a better and more sustainable future, in which all people enjoy equality of rights and access to the benefits and opportunities that cities can offer, and in which the international community reconsiders urban systems and the physical form of our urban spaces as means to achieving this;

RECOGNISING that well-designed green and blue infrastructure can profoundly enhance urban livability, resilience and sustainability, while reducing climate and disaster risks, contributing to public health and well-being, and supporting substantial components of native biodiversity and native geodiversity;

ALSO RECOGNISNG IUCN’s partnership with The Nature Conservancy and ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability in developing CitiesWithNature, a platform for local and sub-national governments to report on their commitments to the post-2020 global biodiversity framework;

RECALLING that further to Resolution 6.029 Incorporating urban dimensions of conservation into the work of IUCN (Hawai‘i, 2016), the IUCN Urban Alliance was launched in September 2018 as a coalition of IUCN constituents concerned with urban dimensions of nature conservation, chaired by an IUCN Councillor and including three IUCN Commission Chairs on its strategic board; and

NOTING that, in its initial phase of development, the IUCN Urban Alliance has focused on three priorities: creating a platform for knowledge exchange and debate, catalysing new projects and partnerships, and developing a new knowledge product – the Urban Nature Index – with the aim of helping cities to measure, value and conserve nature within and beyond their boundaries;

The IUCN World Conservation Congress, at its session in Marseille, France:

1. CALLS ON Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), other governments and stakeholders to recognise the critical importance of Nature in Cities in the development and implementation of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework;

2. URGES Parties to the CBD, other governments and stakeholders to develop Nature in Cities Agendas, mainstreaming of natural diversity, biodiversity and geodiversity, and natural heritage into urban planning and decision-making processes, promoting the implementation of the principles of ecological urbanism, strengthening urban resilience to climate change – including disaster risk reduction – through enhancing, establishing and effectively managing urban and near-urban protected and conserved areas and green infrastructure, and scaling up nature-based solutions providing favourable conditions for wildlife habitats, reducing the ecological footprint of cities, and fostering meaningful connections between people and nature, including urban protected areas, and taking advantage of urban natural heritage;

3. URGES IUCN and its constituent parts to scale up work with cities and city networks, such as ICLEI, as well as with United Nations peer agencies (UN-Habitat, World Health Organization) and strategies that work with cities (International Strategy for Disaster Reduction);

4. CALLS ON the Director General to champion the work and further development of a strong IUCN Urban Alliance through supporting its activities, including:

a. developing and promoting the Urban Nature Index knowledge product;

b. establishing science-based targets work to measure and understand the positive and negative impacts that cities have on ecosystems and natural, geological and biological diversity, around the world;

c. compiling and developing case studies of nature-based urban interventions and solutions that have resulted in tangible benefits to the health and well-being of urban people and nature and overall to resilient city management;

d. promoting research into ways of scaling up and extending the implementation of such case studies, and ensuring they are widely communicated through platforms such as #NatureForALL, Panorama Solutions and CitiesWithNature, as well as other communication and education alternatives and strategies, including to decision makers; and

e. reviewing and strengthening the governance arrangements of the IUCN Urban Alliance, including enabling the chair to be drawn from Members, Commissions or Council; and

5. ENCOURAGES research institutions to develop and deliver training; programmes and courses on urban nature (biodiversity, geodiversity, geological and biological heritage), to promote experiences in nature, seeking to reconnect human beings with nature, and to promote assessment and knowledge of the importance nature has in people’s lives and well-being, and FURTHER ENCOURAGES governmental authorities to take into account the need to restore and develop nature in cities in the programmes they manage.

Further actions to be encouraged are:

ENCOURAGE cities to measure, monitor, value and conserve nature within and beyond their boundaries using tools such as the IUCN Urban Nature Index;

ENGAGE developers, real estate agents, engineers, architects and planners in forums beyond the conservation sector e.g. Future Planning: Designing Places in a Climate Emergency; Congress for New Urbanism

EXAMINE the legal basis for framing access to a clean, safe and wildlife-rich environment within cities as a human right;

CONSIDER organising a first IUCN Cities Summit within two years of the World Conservation Congress;

EXPAND the IUCN Urban Alliance to incorporate a new network of city related partners committed to the conservation of nature and the implementation of the Urban Nature Index;

EXPAND the eligibility of the IUCN Urban Alliance Chair to include former IUCN Councillors; and

ALLOCATE and in some cases re-allocate existing capacity and fundraise for adequate staff and resources to implement this Motion.
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L’urbanisation du monde est un phénomène massif et irréversible
En 2050, selon ONU Habitat, 70 % de la population mondiale vivra en ville. On compte actuellement 5 millions de nouveaux citadins par mois dans les villes en développement, soit l’équivalent d’une ville de 1,2 millions d’habitants par semaine (AFD). Plus d’1 milliard d’entre eux vivent actuellement dans des bidonvilles et, si rien n’est fait, ils seront 3 milliards en 2050 (AFD). Le parc immobilier mondial doit quasi doubler d’ici 2050.
Le lien Ville-Nature-Biodiversité-Agriculture est fondamental pour l’avenir
D’abord parce que la planification, la construction et la gestion des villes a un impact essentiel sur la nature et la biodiversité : en termes de ressource, d’artificialisation des sols, de préservation des corridors écologiques, de survie de certaines espèces (animales et végétales) ;
Mais bien plus parce que la nature en ville offre des solutions évidentes en termes de climat et de risques (atténuation et adaptation), de qualité de l’air, de bien-être, de santé et d’alimentation (agriculture urbaine).

On peut ajouter que l’agriculture urbaine, et plus généralement la nature en ville, peut avoir un impact économique et social massif (sécurité alimentaire, emploi local, insertion, valorisation des savoir-faire des populations issues de l’exode rural, place des femmes, …).
Si le potentiel est énorme (multiple benefits low hanging fruit) ce lien n’est cependant pas facile à actualiser. Tous ces impacts bénéfiques évidents demandent en effet une forte capacité d’anticipation et de mise en œuvre, une culture commune et une prise en compte par l’ensemble des acteurs et une importante technicité qui sont encore embryonnaires au niveau mondial.
Les infrastructures urbaines, routes, bâtiments, réseaux, sont construits pour longtemps. Il est donc essentiel et bien plus économique d’agir en amont. L’effet de stock est extrêmement important.
Il semble souhaitable d’investir ce champ, de lui donner la visibilité qu’il mérite et les moyens qu’il requiert au niveau international.
  • IUCN Council
  • Association Les Eco Maires [France]
  • Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Naturschutz und nukleare Sicherheit und Verbraucherschutz [Germany]
  • France Nature Environnement [France]
  • Ministère de l’Environnement et du développement durable [Senegal]
  • Ministère de l'Europe et des Affaires étrangères [France]
  • Ministerio para la Transición Ecológica y el Reto Demográfico [Spain]
  • Ministry of Environment, Republic of Korea [Korea (RK)]
  • Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle [France]
  • Tour du Valat [France]

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