Mayors and local government officials sent a strong message to leaders gathered at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20 Summit) evoking the role of local and sub-national authorities in effective global governance, and cities as the place where innovative ideas are being put into action in the pursuit of sustainable development. Even though the outcome document does not reach greater commitments, countries around the world formally recognized the important role that local and sub-national authorities play in sustainable development.

Metropolis, as the leading association defending the interests of metropolises, has actively participated at Rio+20 process:

• Advocacy and outreach:

Metropolis supported the advocacy work undertaken by United Cities Local Governments (UCLG), ICLEI and nrg4SD as the Local Authorities’ Major Group Organizing Partners.

Metropolis and UCLG launched a joint communication campaign aiming at drawing attention to issues related to sustainable cities at Rio+20 by seeding the hashtag #citieswewant, which gained the support of many organizations and individuals. Learn more

Metropolis participated at the online “Rio Dialogues” and have put forward one of the recommendations by local authorities’ partners. 

• Urban Summit: UCLG and UN-Habitat, with the support of Metropolis and under the auspices of the City of Rio, brought together over 300 local government representatives to discuss their contributions to a sustainable future. Metropolis participated at the round table “Multilevel Governance: The Fair Place of Local and Regional Authorities” highlighting the importance of metropolitan governance in attaining a sustainable future for cities. Learn more

• Metropolis Initiatives exhibition: At Rio+20 Urban Summit (Espacio Humanidade 2012–Forte do Copacabana), Metropolis  put together an exhibition to showcase the Initiatives as the main service that Metropolis provides for cities and their partners.  The traveling exhibition can be seen in Naples (as part of the Urban World Forum, from 1 to 7 September 2012) and finally at our Board of Directors Meeting to be held in Guangzhou in November 2012. Learn more

• Participation in side events: Metropolis political representatives and senior staff members participated in a variety of events organized by international partners, including ICLEI Global Town Hall and the C40 Mayors Summit.

Metropolis Initiative meetings around Rio+20

Metropolis convened two Initiative meetings around Rio+20

• Metropolis Initiative “Comparative Study on Metropolitan Governance” in São Paulo Learn more
• Metropolis Initiative “Concrete Actions Taken by Metropolises to Mitigate, Anticipate, and Adapt to Climate Change” in Belo Horizonte Learn more

Highlights

Local and Regional Governments role in the Rio Outcome Document - UCLG

Rio+20 - UCLG-ORU FOGAR Joint statement

UCLG Rio+20 webpage

World leaders endorse urban agenda and UN-Habitat

ICLEI Rio+20 webpage

The Future We Want Outcome Document