Bogotá Mayor, Claudia López played an important role at the roundtable held by former United States Secretary of State and special environmental envoy, John Kerry. At the discussion was prestigious architect and urban planner, Norman Foster and several mayors from all around the globe as partners of the C40 Cities.
Mayor López was full of praise for her colleagues as she took the podium at the Glasgow City Chambers Hall. “Every time we have a crisis, like a pandemic or climate change, our cities get stronger, adapt and re-invent themselves. We are here now and we have the support of 1,049 local governments in the Race To Zero (zero carbon emissions by 2050). That is the largest commitment ever made in a COP (Climate Change Summit).”
The mayor opened up about an ambitious and long-ranging District Care System that seeks to aid women and youth below the poverty line. Mayor López pointed out that a large amount of unpaid care work comes in the shape of running and maintaining a household or looking after an ill relative, this is a burden that falls squarely of women; "The task of unpaid care-work by our women is what sustains our cities.”
"Even though we have limited resources..." Mayor López told her mayoral counterparts from around the globe, "...we have high hopes, and we should keep the course. Mayors around the world are the leaders of hope at this time! But we must work together to achieve these objectives in time, despite our budget."
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Previously, the US government envoy, John Kerry, assured that “a new multi-lateralism is not necessary to carry out local action. The mayors can make decisions, block by block, street by street. The city is the perfect place to consolidate change and climate action, although national governments are needed more connected to the vitality and critical issues of cities.”
Former Secretary Kerry went on to point out that "The younger generation understands this: they are simply asking adults to behave like adults. This is how we got to where we are now, a group of adults turned their backs on reality and the truth."
As the night progressed, Norman Foster lent his insight to the design and urban aspect of a city’s development. “Desirable cities”, Mr. Foster explained, “Are dense and compact, but friendly to the pedestrian and not dependent on the car. We are re-discovering the importance of infrastructure as that ‘glue’ that determines the quality of urban life. We also have to re-discover public space, new forms of transport, parks. Quality of life is not only about having a lot of resources, but about spending them conscientiously on people.”
It's worth remembering that the Norman Foster Foundation funds the development of inter-disciplinary thinking and research to help new generations of architects, designers, and city planners to anticipate the future.
This Wednesday the Mayor will hold meetings with the president of C40 Cities and Mayor of Los Angeles, Eric Garcetti; the CEO of the same organisation, Mark Watts; and the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan. Finally, she will participate in a virtual panel on the launch of the Council on Urban Initiatives (Council of Urban Initiatives).
Mayor López’s international agenda will take her to the cities of Madrid and Barcelona, where she will meet with important international allies, such as the Spanish Investment and Export Agency (ICEX); the Union of Ibero-American Capital Cities (UCCI); the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) and the United Cities and Local Governments Network (UCLG).
