2019 Urban 20 Mayors Summit to take place in Tokyo on 21-22 May
30.04.2019
Governor Koike of Tokyo will be hosting the second Urban 20 Summit on 21-22 May 2019. After a successful first U20 Summit in Buenos Aires, U20 cities continue to engage with G20 and call on their national governments to work together to address the most pressing challenges our world is facing. The Summit will be two-days event that will address issues like climate action, circular economy, social inclusion, sustainable economic growth, and gender equality, as well as their linkages with the 2030 Agenda. During the Summit, U20 Mayors will hand a Communique with their joint policy positions to the G20 Chair.
The 2019 Urban 20 Summit will be hosted by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, led by Governor Yuriko Koike, building on the success of the first U20 Summit in Buenos Aires, which last year left an articulated platform to advocate for the inclusion of local perspectives in the G20 agenda.
“Actions taken by cities are crucial to solving global challenges. As a part of the Urban 20, Tokyo will help enrich G20 discussions and we will work to realize a sustainable world building on the legacy of Buenos Aires” Yuriko Koike, Governor of Tokyo
On 21-22 May 2019, more than 29 cities will discuss their policy priorities on climate action, social inclusion and integration, sustainable economic growth and their linkages with the Sustainable Development Goals. These policy priorities were agreed last March during the Sherpa meeting in Milan, where Mayor’s representatives discussed the political messages to be brought to the G20. In a form of a Communiqué, U20 cities will convey their joint recommendations to the Government of Japan as G20 Chair, to be presented to the G20 the Leaders Summit in Osaka on 28-29 June 2019.
Leveraging the potential of cities as hubs of diversity and innovation is key to “realize and promote a free and open, inclusive and sustainable, human-centred future society” – as stated by the 2019 G20 Presidency. Aware of the need for multi-level collaboration if we are to achieve such goals, U20 cities call on G20 governments to work with local governments to address the most urgent priorities the planet is facing.
“Urban 20 seeks to collaborate and enrich the agenda of the G20 with an urban perspective, for that we will work together with the big cities of the world” Horacio Rodríguez Larreta, Mayor of Buenos Aires
U20 is an initiative developed under the leadership of Mayor Horacio Rodríguez Larreta of Buenos Aires and Mayor Anne Hidalgo of Paris in 2017. It seeks to coordinate a joint position among the Mayors of G20 cities to inform and enrich the discussions of G20 national leaders. The initiative aims to highlight the expertise of cities in a range of global development issuesUCLG and C40, as conveners, co-facilitate this city diplomacy process, and ensure the links between the Urban 20 and the broader constituency of local and regional governments.