ICLEI: The Cities and Regions Talanoa Dialogues come to Resilient Cities 2018

The Resilient Cities Congress 2018 is set to host an official Cities and Regions Talanoa Dialogue on 27 April 2018. The Cities and Regions Talanoa Dialogues are a series of in-country climate consultations that kick off a collaborative process involving all levels of government. They convene national, regional and local governments to take stock of, shape and strengthen climate action at all levels, from global to local.

The highlight of the Congress is the special High Level Talanoa Dialogue and Dinner on the evening of Friday, 27 April convened by Mayor of Bonn Ashok Sridharan at Bonn City Hall. This conversation – just ahead of the Talanoa Dialogue at the midyear climate talks – features addresses by UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa, State Secretary of the German Ministry of Environment Jochen Flasbarth, COP23 High Level Champion H.E. Inia Seruiriatu and Fijian Ambassador to Belgium, Permanent Representative to the European Union and Special Envoy to the UNFCCC Deo Saran.

The outcomes will contribute to the Talanoa Dialogue – global conversations that connect national governments and climate stakeholders. Launched at COP23, the 23rd United Nations Climate Change Conference in 2017, the Talanoa Dialogue serves as an initial stocktaking exercise in 2018 to prepare for future submissions of national climate action plans submitted under the Paris Climate Agreement.

The high-level discussion will address the three main questions of Talanoa: Where are we? Where do we want to go? How do we get there? – with a focus on this final question looking at the steps ahead. Importantly, it will look at how to strengthen multilevel climate governance – coordinated action across all levels of government – and examine ways to incorporate the urban dimension of climate into policy and action.

The focus on urban resilience that is at the heart of Resilient Cities 2018 will feed and strengthen these dialogues, bringing together the urban and climate agendas through an inclusive, participatory, facilitative, solutions-oriented and multi-stakeholder dialogue.

The Talanoa theme runs throughout the Congress, where hundreds of local and regional leaders, experts and practitioners will collectively discuss main urban resilience and climate adaptation challenges, directions, opportunities, gaps and future developments, delivering on the goals set in the Paris Climate Agreement, the Sustainable Development Goals and the New Urban Agenda.

The Cities and Regions Talanoa Dialogues are organized by ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability on behalf of the Global Taskforce of Local and Regional Governments with the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy (GCoM) and UN-Habitat as special partners.

Read more about Talanoa at Resilient Cities 2018.

Read more on the Cities and Regions Talanoa Dialogue.

Source: News ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, 26.04.2018