City Diplomacy Lab

With half of the buildings that will stand in 2050 still to be built, cities around the world have a strategic opportunity to make construction a driver of sustainability, resilience, and wellbeing.

In the fifth and final session of the Our Urban Future series, Kisumu 🇰🇪, Mumbai 🇮🇳, and Toronto 🇨🇦 will explore how cooperation across municipalities, levels of government, and sectors can help turn global construction goals into local action.

🏗️ From Global Targets to Local Delivery: Multilevel Governance for Sustainable Buildings and Construction
📅 Wednesday, August 26, 2026 | 3:00–4:15 p.m. CEST
💻 Online, free registration
🤝 Co-organized by UN Environment Programme and City Diplomacy Lab, in collaboration with the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction (GlobalABC)

👥 Speakers: Felix Akello (County Government of Kisumu), Dr. Shankar Deshpande (Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority- MMRDA), Howlan Mullally (City of Toronto), Dr. Gulnara Roll (GlobalABC / UNEP), Dr. Lorenzo Kihlgren Grandi (City Diplomacy Lab)

Register: https://www.citydiplomacylab.net/sustainable-buildings-and-construction/

How is international engagement helping cities test, scale, and connect solutions to extreme heat? 🌡️

This summer's heat waves across the Northern Hemisphere are a clear signal: cities need to move faster on adaptation, and none of them can do it alone.

The next session of the UNEP-City Diplomacy Lab peer-learning webinar series brings together city representatives from Antalya 🇹🇷, Barcelona 🇪🇸, Lagos 🇳🇬, and Singapore 🇸🇬 to explore how city diplomacy is building urban resilience against rising heat.

📅 Wed, July 29 | 10:00–11:15 CEST
💻 Free registration, link in comments
🤝 Co-organized with the UN Environment Programme

Speakers:
• Dr. Fulya Kandemir, Antalya Büyükşehir Belediyesi
• Gloria Hidalga Figueras, Barcelona City Council
• Adedoyin Lasisi, Lagos State Ministry Of The Environment and Water Resources
• Petrina Leo, Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment
• Dr. Eleni Myrivili, Global Chief Heat Officer, Cool Coalition (UNEP)
• Dr. Lorenzo Kihlgren Grandi, City Diplomacy Lab

How can cities transform food systems into engines of sustainability, equity, and resilience? 🌱🌍

Cities today consume more than 70% of global food — placing them at the frontline of food waste, food insecurity, and unsustainable consumption patterns. The next session of the Our Urban Future Webinar Series explores how cities can turn these challenges into opportunities for circular and inclusive transformation.

🖥️ Cities and the Future of Food — Circularity, Equity, and Urban Resilience

📅 Monday, June 29, 2026 | 10:00–11:15 a.m. CEST

💻 Online | Free

🤝 Co-organized by UNEP and the City Diplomacy Lab

City representatives from London, Dar es Salaam, and Abu Dhabi will share ground-level practices and forward-looking strategies — from circular food system approaches and surplus redistribution to data-driven governance frameworks that connect global goals with local action.

🔗 Full overview & free registration: www.citydiplomacylab.net/cities-and-the-future-of-food

Last Friday, June 5, we closed the Urban7 2026 week with a conversation that brought together U.S. city leaders and senior international officials at Reid Hall in Paris.

Mayors, a deputy mayor, a chief of staff — alongside UNECE, UNESCO, OECD, and GMF Cities — spent a morning talking about how American cities engage internationally, and why it matters now more than ever.

What stayed with us: the grounded, practical character of the discussion. International engagement was described as an extension of what cities already owe their residents — who carry global histories, connections, and identities with them every day.

We're grateful to our speakers, to the German Marshall Fund of the United States for an outstanding partnership, and to the audience — researchers, students, and institutional representatives — who made the exchange so lively.

Full report: citydiplomacylab.net/us-mayors/

🏛️ A historic moment for cities and the G7.

From 2 to 4 June, mayors and local leaders from across the G7 and beyond will gather in Nancy, France, for the Urban7 (U7) International Mayors' Summit — the first time cities take their seat at the G7 table as an officially recognized Engagement Group.

The City Diplomacy Lab is honored to serve as Scientific Coordinator of the process, supporting the coherence, ambition, and political impact of the Summit and its Declaration, structured around the three macro-themes of the French G7 Presidency: international partnerships, resilience, and sustainable economic transformation.

The Lab works alongside the Urban7 co-chairs (the Global Parliament of Mayors and ICLEI), this year's Summit chair France Urbaine, the national city associations of G7 countries, and a coalition of trusted partners, including UNECE, the OECD, The German Marshall Fund of the United States, the City of Paris, and Sciences Po.

Two public side events, co-organized by the Lab, frame the closed-door Summit:

🇫🇷 1 June, Nancy (in French) — "Nancy, International Actor," with the City of Nancy
🇺🇸 5 June, Reid Hall, Paris (in English) — "U.S. Mayors and the Rising International Engagement of Cities," with the German Marshall Fund

🔗 Full details: https://www.citydiplomacylab.net/urban7-2026/

How can cities break the cycle of car dependency and build mobility systems that truly serve people, climate, and equity? 🚲🌍

On February 26, we’re bringing together city practitioners, UN experts, and urban policy leaders to explore how digitalization and data-driven approaches can accelerate low-carbon transport across cities, with insights from pilots in Latin America.

📅 26 February 2026
⏰ 4:00–5:30 p.m. CET
💻 Online | Zoom webinar
🤝 Co-organized with UN Environment Programme
🔗 Register here: https://www.citydiplomacylab.net/driving-change-in-urban-mobility/

This session is part of the “Our Urban Future” series, dedicated to strengthening the role of cities in advancing global climate objectives through concrete, locally driven solutions.

Local, national, and international leaders and experts gathered on December 1 for “Delivering Local Climate Action — Insights from COP30,” a hybrid roundtable organized by the UN Environment Programme and the City Diplomacy Lab in Paris.

The central challenge: Cities and regions achieved unprecedented recognition at COP30 Brasil—but how do we translate this momentum into concrete implementation on the ground?

KEY TAKEAWAYS
→ Multilevel governance isn't optional—it's the only viable pathway. Cities account for 70% of emissions and are often delivering climate action faster than national governments.
→ Climate finance must reach those who deliver. Bankable projects exist from Douala to Yokohama, but most financing mechanisms remain misaligned with local needs. As one speaker noted: "Climate funding is not charity—it is collective action."
→ Innovation happens through pragmatic ambition. Oslo's 94.6% electric vehicle adoption, Strasbourg's 43% emissions reduction, Bordeaux's 160,000 trees planted and climate budgeting approach, and Maharashtra's state-wide climate action cells show what's possible when political commitment meets implementation capacity.
→ Traditional cycles are too slow. ICLEI's "subnational COPs" in 50+ cities across six continents demonstrate how to maintain momentum between formal COP processes.
→ Context matters. There's no one-size-fits-all solution—but all cities share the need for political leadership, adequate resources, and genuine multilevel partnerships.

This roundtable launches a six-part series exploring how to accelerate locally grounded climate action through inclusive governance, accessible financing, and partnerships connecting global objectives with municipal realities.

Our deepest thanks to all contributors (in alphabetical order): Yunus Arikan (ICLEI), Bernhard Barth (UN-HABITAT), Helene Chartier (C40 Cities), Takaaki Ito (City of Yokohama), Anne-Marie Jean (Strasbourg.eu), Kadri Jushkin (Estonian Ministry of Regional Affairs and Agriculture), Lorenzo Kihlgren Grandi (City Diplomacy Lab), Delphine Le Duff (AFD - Agence Française de Développement), Hongpeng Lei (UNEP), Edouard Hervé Moby Mpah (Mairie de Douala 4), Céline Papin (Ville de Bordeaux), Sture Portvik (Bymiljøetaten i Oslo kommune), Gulnara Roll (UNEP), and Sameer Unhale (Government of Maharashtra).

📄 Full summary: https://www.citydiplomacylab.net/insights-from-cop30/
🎥 Recording: https://youtu.be/Eg6nGNhJciM

How can cities turn COP30 ambitions into real progress? 🌿

On December 1, we’re gathering city leaders, UN experts, diplomats, and scholars in Paris to discuss what the post-COP30 landscape means for local and regional governments, and how ambition can translate into real climate delivery.

📅 1 December 2025
⏰ 11:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m. CET
📍 UNEP Paris Office + online
🤝 Co-organized with UN Environment Programme
🔗 Register here: https://www.citydiplomacylab.net/insights-from-cop30/

This session opens our new “Our Urban Future” series, dedicated to enhancing the role of local authorities in global climate action.

🌍 Building Bridges at the Euro-Africa Biennale 2025 🌍

The City Diplomacy Lab is proud to join forces once again with the City and Metropolis of Montpellier, valued members of our Advisory Board, for their Euro-Africa Biennale 2025.

📅 October 6–7 — Our researchers Lorenzo Kihlgren Grandi and Yassine Turki will act as rapporteurs of the Biennale Congress, where leaders from cities, networks, institutions, academia, business, and civil society will gather. Together, they will explore solutions to shared challenges — from climate resilience and sustainable development to mobility and inclusive governance — themes that stand at the heart of the Lab’s mission.

📅 October 8 — Lorenzo Kihlgren Grandi will facilitate the Diaspora Assembly, dedicated to co-drafting the Montpellier Charter. By placing diasporas at the center, the Assembly seeks to rethink Euro-African cooperation — making it more connected, more meaningful, and more impactful for the communities it serves.

🔗 Learn more about the Euro-Africa Biennale 2025: https://www.euro-africa.montpellier.fr/en/biennale

Ville de Montpellier, Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole, Montpellier On The Map, AFD - Agence Française de Développement, AIMF - Association Internationale des Maires Francophones, Université de Montpellier, Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier, MedVallée - Montpellier, Africa Montpellier, Tropisme.