On 7 November 2023, the first hearing for the test phase of the SDG city certification took place at the Kronberg Academy in Germany. The second hearing will take place in early December in Dubai during the COP and the final session will take place during next year's SDG Lab in Davos from 14 to 18 January 2024.
As the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development reached its half term, the UN recognises that the world is far from achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – some targets have even regressed.
During the SDG Lab hosted in Davos early this year in Davos the teams from UNASDG, UNGSII and UN Habitat draftet a proposal underlining the key role Cities play.
To accelerate the achievement of SDGs, they need inclusive, evidence based planning, accountable governance with effective equitable service delivery, and access to finance.
The 36 member states, forming the UN Habitat Executive Board, accepted the design developed in Davos and gave green light to move forward and test the concept together with the experts from Deloitte working towards something like a “SDG Cities Certification”.
This guides and recognizes effective processes to accelerate SDGs in cities as well as impact, but must answer the following questions:
a) Does SDG assurance increase opportunities for cities to access finance for sustainable development priorities?
b) Can this be undertaken beyond the 10 test countries, like in Brazil with its 5000 communities?
UNGSII, UN Habitat and UNASDG invited now experts as well as city adminitrations to discuss the design during the first hearing at the Kronberg Academy Nov 7 2023 in Germany.
The second hearing will take place early december in Dubai during COP and the closing session will be during next years SDG Lab in Davos Jan 14-18.
The overall design will then be tested in 20 countries within 80 cities in total with 4 size levels: up to 100.000 inhabitants, up to 250.000, 500.000 and 1 Mio. Results will be shared December 2024.
For more impressions of the event watch the video below: