Toward Climate Smart and Sustainable cities: Integrated Urban System Methodology and Key Performance Indicators

Accelerating growth of urban populations has become a driving force of human development, especially in developing countries. Crowded cities are centres of creativity and economic progress; however, extreme weather conditions, flooding, water quality, air pollution and other hazards create substantial vulnerability and challenges in the urban environment.

The third United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (HABITAT III) in October 2016 adopted the New Urban Agenda (United Nations, 2017), which brings into focus urban resilience, climate and environment sustainability, and disaster risk management. Following the event at the United Nations Economic and Social Council, efforts are required from WMO to consolidate its input to the revision of the New Urban Agenda (NUA) and support urban related activities in a comprehensive manner. Urban development is now a cornerstone of the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. It has its own sustainable development goal (SDG 11): Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.

To support implementation of urban activities the WMO inter-programme Urban Expert Team under the Commission for Atmospheric Sciences and Commission for Basic Systems (2018) supported by a dedicated team of urban focal points in the Secretariat developed the Guidance on Integrated Urban Hydro-Meteorological, Climate and Environmental Services (IUS). The needs for integrated urban services (IUS) include information for short-term preparedness (e.g. hazard response and early warning systems), longer-term planning (e.g. adaptation and mitigation to climate change) and support for day-to-day operations (e.g. water resources). The aim is to build urban systems and services that meet the special needs of cities through a combination of dense observation networks, high-resolution forecasts, multi-hazard early warning systems, disaster management plans and climate services. This approach gives cities the tools they need to reduce emissions, build thriving and resilient communities and implement the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

WMO with its urban cross-cutting approach is involved in joint UN urban activities for development of and implementation of NUA and SDG 11 with a number of external partners, e.g. UN-Habitat, WHO, ITU, GEO, International Association for Urban Climate (IAUC), etc. The IUS methodology is integrated into more broad Multi-Agency UN system U4SSC: United for Smart Sustainable Cities and its key performance indicators (KPIs) for smart sustainable cities.

This presentation provides an overview of the current efforts towards future IUSs on urbanization under climate change undertaken by the WMO and UN international initiatives for building climate smart, sustainable and resilient cities.