Major Group: Local Authorities
SIXTH SESSION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OPEN WORKING GROUP ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS (SDG OWG-6)
“Means of implementation (science and technology, knowledge-sharing and capacity building)”
Intervention of Local Authorities Major Group
Delivered by Yunus Arikan, Head of Global Policy and Advocacy, ICLEI, LAMG OP
Mr. Co-Chair,
At the outset of the discussions on means of implementation, we would like to recall para. 42 of the Rio+20 Outcome document where national governments “acknowledge efforts and progress made at the local and subnational levels, and recognize the important role that such authorities and communities can play in implementing sustainable development.”
Lets not forget that “Means of Implementation” can not be discussed independently from “Places of Implementation” and “Actors of Implementation”.
Considering that the Urban World age, where the majority of the humanity are living in urban agglomerations, without any doubt, cities are the key places of implementation and their local and subnational governments are the leading actors of implementation of science and technology, and in particular knowledge sharing and capacity building.
Responding to the definition of 4 key areas that Co-Chair underlined during the Morning Hearings, we would like to underline that local and subnational governments are (a) consumers of technology through their purchasing power, (b) and (c) producers and owners of technology through municipal operations and urban services they provide (d) diffusers of technology through their legislative power.
More importantly, through their global and diverse city-to-city networking and collaboration efforts and initiatives, local and subnational governments are also playing a key role in knowledge sharing and capacity building for all means of implementation.
In the past 20 years, through massive roll-out of Local Agenda 21 in thousands of cities worldwide, local and subnational governments have demonstrated how they can support the localization of global agreements.
We encourage delegates and national governments to go beyond localization of SDGs and adopt a stand-alone goal for cities and urban development, in order to meet the challenges, seize the opportunities of implementation of SDGs and ensure a full and rapid transformation of our societies to a universal and holistic sustainable development.
“Means of implementation (science and technology, knowledge-sharing and capacity building)”
Intervention of Local Authorities Major Group
Delivered by Yunus Arikan, Head of Global Policy and Advocacy, ICLEI, LAMG OP
Mr. Co-Chair,
At the outset of the discussions on means of implementation, we would like to recall para. 42 of the Rio+20 Outcome document where national governments “acknowledge efforts and progress made at the local and subnational levels, and recognize the important role that such authorities and communities can play in implementing sustainable development.”
Lets not forget that “Means of Implementation” can not be discussed independently from “Places of Implementation” and “Actors of Implementation”.
Considering that the Urban World age, where the majority of the humanity are living in urban agglomerations, without any doubt, cities are the key places of implementation and their local and subnational governments are the leading actors of implementation of science and technology, and in particular knowledge sharing and capacity building.
Responding to the definition of 4 key areas that Co-Chair underlined during the Morning Hearings, we would like to underline that local and subnational governments are (a) consumers of technology through their purchasing power, (b) and (c) producers and owners of technology through municipal operations and urban services they provide (d) diffusers of technology through their legislative power.
More importantly, through their global and diverse city-to-city networking and collaboration efforts and initiatives, local and subnational governments are also playing a key role in knowledge sharing and capacity building for all means of implementation.
In the past 20 years, through massive roll-out of Local Agenda 21 in thousands of cities worldwide, local and subnational governments have demonstrated how they can support the localization of global agreements.
We encourage delegates and national governments to go beyond localization of SDGs and adopt a stand-alone goal for cities and urban development, in order to meet the challenges, seize the opportunities of implementation of SDGs and ensure a full and rapid transformation of our societies to a universal and holistic sustainable development.