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‘It's radical’: the Ugandan city built on solar, shea butter and people power

The village of Okere Mom-Kok was in ruins by the end of more than a decade of war in northern Uganda.Now, just outside Ojok Okello’s living-room door, final-year pupils at the early childhood centre are noisily breaking for recess and a market is clattering into life, as is the local craft brewe ...

World Wildlife day: "Forests and Livelihoods: Sustaining People and Planet" (14:00-17:30 CET)

3 March 2021, Virtual

World Tourism Day 2020

27 September 2020, New York, United States of America

World Tourism Day

27 September 2022, Madrid, Spain

World Life Sciences Forum BioVision 2009

8 - 11 March 2009, Lyon, France

World Habitat Day 2020

5 October 2020, Nairobi, Kenya

World Habitat Day 2019

7 October 2019, Nairobi, Kenya

World Habitat Day 2018

2 October 2018, Nairobi, Kenya

World Cities Summit 2014: Liveable and Sustainable Cities: Common Challenges, Shared Solutions

1 - 4 June 2014, Singapore, Singapore

World Cities Summit 2012: Liveable and Sustainable Cities - Integrated Urban Solutions

1 - 4 July 2012, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore

World Cities Day 2020

31 October 2020, New York, United States of America

World Cities Day 2019

31 October 2019, New York, United States of America

World Cities Day 2018 (http://www.un.org/en/events/citiesday/)

31 October 2018, New York, United States of America

World Cities Day 2017

31 October 2017, New York, United States of America

World Cities Day

31 October 2021, New York, United States of America

World Cities Day

31 October 2022, Nairobi, Kenya

World Cities Day

31 October 2023, New York, United States of America

World Cities Day

31 October 2024, New York, United States of America

Wildlife through the window: what readers have spotted during lockdown

We asked Guardian readers living in cities and towns across the world to share their images of the wildlife they can see from their homes. You answered in your droves, from Canada to Cardiff, and here are some of the best.

Wild boar surround woman near Rome and steal food shopping

A herd of wild boar surrounded a woman who had just come out of a supermarket near Rome and stole her shopping, rekindling a debate about the presence of the animal in Italian towns and cities.

Why we should build for wildlife as well as people

Every time we build something, another patch of ground that could have been a home to wildlife disappears. But Dusty Gedge argues that, in many cases, we can return that patch of ground to nature – up on the roof.

Why the UAE's mangroves are so important — and how to save them

Mangroves are estimated to cover more than 150 square kilometres of the UAE's coastline, acting as a "green lung" for big cities such as Abu Dhabi and Dubai, while also providing habit for wildlife and recreation grounds for humans. Most of us would see mangroves as a beautiful element of our la ...

Why the Dutch embrace floating homes

Faced with worsening floods and a shortage of housing, the Netherlands is seeing growing interest in floating homes. These floating communities are inspiring more ambitious Dutch-led projects in flood-prone nations, from French Polynesia to the Maldives.

Why seagulls are making their homes in our cities

Their cries are most commonly associated with the seaside, but as their natural homes come under threat, will gulls increasingly move inland to take up residence in our cities?

Why nightingales love scruffy Berlin

Berlin attracts more nightingales than almost any other European city. Although it's not an urban species, the little bird with the big voice seems to thrive in Germany's hectic capital.

Why are San Jose's trees disappearing? City loses hundreds of acres each year

San Jose's trees are slowly vanishing. Despite boasting, the nation's 10th largest city is in the midst of an environmental crisis as the tree canopy that shades it has dwindled by 1.82% between 2012 and 2018.

What urban nature really means for insect biodiversity

Parks and green spaces in cities provide health and wellness benefits to human inhabitants, but they’re not necessarily beneficial for other urban dwellers – like insects. Researchers are investigating urban biodiversity with approaches such as ‘bee hotels’ to see how cities can better foster in ...

What is happening to biodiversity in Africa's protected Areas?

The status and trends of biodiversity (with emphasis on bird species) following the 'Pressure- State- Response' monitoring framework was measured within protected areas in 13 African countries. The results of the baseline and monitoring studies will be presented during a workshop and panel discu ...

What does a sustainable city mean to Singapore’s youth?

Preserving local heritage and being in touch with nature is essential to living in a sustainable city, said students at a recent youth event in Singapore.

Webinars on the long-term approach to mainstreaming biodiversity and the role of subnational governments and local authorities in the post-2020 global biodiversity framework

Reference: SCBD/SSSF/ML/OH/89116 (2020-072)
To: CBD National Focal Points, relevant organizations and partners

WWF launches global green city awards

he World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) launched its “One Planet City Challenge 2019” on Tuesday.This year the One Planet City Challenge has a new assessment framework based on data from the IPCC, the UN climate panel.

Utrecht rooftops to be ‘greened’ with plants and mosses in new plan

Every roof in the city district of Utrecht is to be “greened” with plants and mosses or have solar panels installed under plans driven by the success of a similar scheme for the municipality’s bus stops.

Urbanization does not always decrease food diversity

Over half of the globe’s population currently lives in urban areas, a figure which will increase to 68 percent by 2050. According to scientists, increased urbanization drives changes in climate, land use, biodiversity, and human diet. A new study published in the journal One Earth has found that ...

Urbanisation and climate change sting bees. What can cities do for them?

“Everyone wants honey. But no one wants the bees near them,” says 34-year-old Pune city resident Amit Godse of Bee Basket, who runs a business extricating beehives from neighborhoods that don’t like them. Godse then relocates the beehives to wooded areas or farmlands bordering the city or sends ...

Urban “wastelands” are a paradise for bees

A growing appreciation of how bees can thrive in urban environments has led many city dwellers to protect their habitat. Pollinator gardens are a regular feature of neighborhoods and schools; parks and nature sanctuaries are managed with bees in mind. Yet one potentially bee-rich environ still r ...

Urban life is not to everyone's taste

Habitat change, for example through urbanisation, is one of the most important causes of biodiversity decline. By 2050, settlements and cities across the globe are predicted to increase by two to three million square kilometres - about half the size of Greenland. Natural and semi-natural habitat ...

Urban gardens boost biodiversity, make cities more sustainable

In building cities, we have created some of the harshest habitats on Earth—and then chosen to live in them.Temperatures in cities are typically 2-3 C warmer than those of the surrounding landscape. Pollution levels and noise can reach levels seen few other places on Earth.

Urban farms to traffic bans: Cities prep for post-coronavirus future

As the coronavirus pandemic forced lockdowns in many parts of the world, cities from Amsterdam to Singapore are unveiling measures to improve sustainability, food security and living standards that urban experts said would soon become the norm.

Urban birds need to be smart or fast-breeding

To thrive in urban environments, birds need to either have large brains, or breed many times over their life, according to a new study involving UCL.

Urban biodiversity: What is it, and why is it urgently needed?

Did you know that urban biodiversity makes you happier, increases sales at local businesses, and makes children develop their cognitive skills better, among other benefits? Urban restoration aims to renaturalize cities to make them compatible with lost nature, which is part of humanity. Why is i ...

Urban Eco-Efficiency

The world is increasingly urban. By 2050, another three billion people will inhabit the world’s cities—this equals to adding one new city of one million people every ten days for the next 89 years. 70% of the human ecological footprints are marked by cities. Despite only representing 2% of th ...

Urban Biodiversity and the Role of Cities in Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Use discussed at Bonn Biodiversity Conference.

Urban Biodiversity and the Role of Cities in Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Use discussed at Bonn Biodiversity Conference

Bonn, 26 May—With more than half of the world’s people now living in cities, 191 countries are, for the first time, discussing ways to promote biodiversity in an urban setting at the Biodiversity Conference taking place in Bonn, Germany. The countries are joined by the mayors of the world, who w ...

United Nations Day for South-South Cooperation 2020

12 September 2020, New York, United States of America

US cities working to reduce emissions in the absence of bold action in Washington

After the Cop26 conference ended in Glasgow, many activists and climate scientists felt the agreement didn’t go far enough and that the US government was among those who had not backed strong words with enough actual deeds.

UNEP/CBD/WGRI/5/9

Engagement with Subnational and Local Governments

UNEP/CBD/SNG/1/2

Report of the Meeting of Subnational Governments in Support of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets

UNEP/CBD/IPA/SNGCOLA/3/2

Report of the Workshop

UNEP/CBD/IPA/SNGCOLA/1/2

Final Report

UNEP/CBD/IPA/SNGCOLA/1/1/ADD1/CORR1

Annotations to the Provisional Agenda (Corrigendum)