United Nations Human Settlement Programme hosts Cities and Climate Change Meeting in Nairobi.

22 November 2007 - Climate change and its impacts are one of the most important challenges for the future of mankind. It is a global phenomenon and its impacts will be felt locally—in cities, towns, and other human settlements in the rural areas.

The impacts are manifold, ranging from longer and more intensive drought periods, heavier rainfalls and an increased variability of precipitations, inland flooding and sea level rise, more and more intensive tropical cyclones, water scarcity among others (refer to the literature on cities and climate change). In general, poor people will be more affected. In the era of rapid urbanization, mainly in developing countries, cities are more at risk, as climate change impacts add to and reinforce existing environmental, economic and social problems.

An expert group meeting (EGM) convened by UN-HABITAT has been organized whose main goals will be to:

• Develop a common understanding on issues and challenges on Cities and Climate Change.
• Come to an overall approach of how to deal with the challenge of climate change from a human settlements’ point of view, and,
• Contribute to the development of the draft strategy on Cities and Climate Change.

The expected outcomes of the EGM will be:

• A background paper outlining the position of UN-HABITAT on cities and climate change. This will include a solid knowledge basis, the identification of policy options, and a priorization of regions and fields of future activity, on which future approaches and strategies of UN-HABITAT will be defined, and,
• An initial network of interested participants to further support UN-HABITAT’s strategy on Cities and Climate Change.

Invited participants for the meeting will include approximately 50 researchers on mitigation and adaptation to climate change at the local level, representatives of cities already suffering from climate change related problems, representatives of UN and other international organizations and networks.