Circular Economy, Smart Cities, Urban Transport – G20 Declarations Impact on Cities

Subject : IR

Section: GROUPINGS

Introduction:

In May 2023, a 35-member team from Brazil and other Latin American countries, part of the G20 Troika Youth for Disaster Risk Reduction and Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, visited the Delhi-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit system in Uttar Pradesh.

G20 Declarations Affecting Cities:

2021 Rome Declaration:

Endorsed the G20 Platform on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Localisation and Intermediary Cities.
Collaborated with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and United Nations-Habitat.
An intermediary city is a medium-sized urban area that falls between large cities and smaller towns, often serving as a regional economic and administrative center.

2019 Japan’s Presidency:

Urban20 Group:

Established in 2017, with its first meeting in Buenos Aires in 2018.
Not an official G20 working group; managed by C40 (global network of Mayors) and United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG, network of city and local governments).
Chaired by the host city from the host country each year.

Urban20 Mayoral Summit 2023:

Held in Ahmedabad in July 2023.
With support from the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry and the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA).
Mayors from select G20 and invitee countries gather to draft a communique, which is submitted for inclusion in the leaders’ declaration.
The communique was endorsed by 105 cities, the highest participation in any U20 summit.
Focused on climate finance and urban reforms, calling for a “Loss and Damage Fund” to finance climate change impact projects.

Notably, no Chinese or Russian cities were represented in the communique.

What is a circular economy?

It is an economic system aimed at eliminating waste; and the continual use of resources.
It includes 3 R’s (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle), Refurbishment, Recover, and Repairing of materials.