UN Sustainable Development Goal #11: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe and sustainable
While only around a third of the world's population lived in urban areas in the 1950s, this figure is now more than half and rising. In Europe it is 73%, in Latin America around 80%, in North America 81%, in Africa 40% and in Asia 48%. Cities generate around 80% of the world's gross domestic product and are responsible for around 75% of all CO2 emissions.
"The battle for the climate will be won or lost in the cities."
Modern urban centers offer great potential for sustainable change; sustainable urban development is a decisive factor in the fight against global warming. It is assumed that one in three people will live in urban areas by 2050. However, access to resources is still very unevenly distributed and many conurbations lack the crucial infrastructure.
A few facts
- 29 percent of the urban population lives in slums
- Around 600 million city dwellers have no secure access to drinking water
- 2 billion people lack access to regulated waste disposal
- 24 percent of the world's population lives in cities with more than one million inhabitants
- 9 out of 10 city dwellers breathe air with particulate matter levels above the WHO guideline values
- Only around 50% of the world's urban population has free, safe access to public transportation
- 20 percent have easy access to public spaces such as squares and parks
The goals of SDGs 11 to 2030 at a glance:
- Access to affordable housing and adequate basic services for all people
- Access to affordable and sustainable transportation for all
- Strengthening inclusive and sustainable urban planning
- Better protection of world cultural and natural heritage sites
- Increased protection for people affected by disasters
- Expansion of municipal disaster control
- Reducing the environmental impact of cities, with a particular focus on air pollution and waste management
- Improving general access to public spaces and parks
https://news.pro.earth/2023/01/19/der-weltzukunftsvertrag-der-uno-besagt-in-erster-linie-eines-es-ist-deine-entscheidung/
The climate crisis can only be overcome through interlinked social, economic and ecological measures, a "transformation of the world".
Sources:
Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development
Further link:
The UN resolution on the 2030 Agenda in German
