At the Climate Adaptation Summit 2021 (CAS 2021), Mayor Aboutaleb of Rotterdam presented the ten-year program '1,000 Cities Adapt Now' to world leaders including heads of state Angela Merkel and Mark Rutte, Ban Ki-moon of the Global Commission on Adaptation and António Guterres, UN Secretary General. On behalf of the cooperation partners, he offered this Joint Statement to accelerate climate adaptation in cities worldwide during the opening of the International Climate Summit on Monday, January 25.
Mayor Aboutaleb: "The hottest year ever, the driest month, the most precipitation in one day. The weather records rapidly follow each other. We have to adapt our way of life and our economies to new, more extreme circumstances. As leaders of cities, mayors know that both climate change mitigation and global action on climate adaptation are essential to the future of those cities. Covid-19 is also forcing us to choose a green recovery from this pandemic."
'1,000 Cities Adapt Now'
The program ‘1,000 Cities Adapt Now’ (1000CAN) aims to accelerate global climate adaptation in as many as 1,000 cities around the world. By 2050, more than 70% of the world's population will live in cities, so the efforts of the 10-year program are crucial to create impact. The program is led by a new coalition between the Global Center on Adaptation, the World Resources Institute, the Resilient Cities Network and the UN-Habitat. In doing so, they can count on the hands-on climate adaptation experience of urban leaders from Miami, Paris, Accra, Christchurch, Milan, Jakarta, Surat, Beira, Antwerp, Tirana, Athens, Greater Manchester, Khulna, Istanbul, The Hague, Groningen and Rotterdam.
Mayors' Forum 'Accelerating Adaptation in Cities'
As part of CAS 2021, Aboutaleb hosted the mayoral forum 'Accelerating Adaptation in Cities'. This forum was available online on Monday, January 25, 2021 for anyone who registered at www.cas2021.com. Ban Ki-moon and urban leaders from Miami, Paris, Jakarta and Christchurch, among others, spoke about climate adaptation in cities and their support for the 1000CAN program. Cities and urban regions have an important role to play in addressing climate change. At the same time, there are challenges to face and recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Netherlands organizes CAS 2021
CAS 2021 is an international climate summit that took place in the Netherlands on January 25-26, 2021. The conference focused on finding solutions to adapt to the inevitable effects of climate change, such as rising sea levels and extreme weather events. The goal of the conference is to ensure that our world can better withstand the effects of climate change.