17/11/2024

On 17 November 2024, Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr delivered the U20 Communique to the President of Brazil His Excellency Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. She joined Mayor Eduardo Paes of Rio de Janeiro and Mayor Anne Hildago of Paris and the handing over of the Communique was witnessed by the President of Chile, His Excellency Gabriel Boric.

This year’s Urban20 (U20) Summit, convened by C40 Cities and UCLG on the eve of the G20 Summit has been groundbreaking! The presence of G20 President, President Lula and of President Boric at the final plenary was hugely encouraging for the mayors and city leaders of the 82 cities at the event. Both Presidents delivered strong messages recognising the critical role of cities in addressing the climate crisis and securing sustainable development for our residents.

Another landmark moment was the signing of an MOU between C40 Cities and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). This signifies a commitment by IDB to work with C40 Cities to provide cities in Latin America and the Caribbean with direct access to finance for climate action. Mayors look forward to other multilateral and regional banks making similar commitments to ensure that climate action can be financed at the local level where it is most urgently needed and effectively delivered.

After delivering a keynote at the Women’s Leadership Panel, mayor Aki-Sawyerr had the honor of handing over to First Lady of Brazil Janja Lula de Silva, a C40 publication on Best Practices for Cities on Food and Nutrition in the Global South.

Next year’s U20 will be held in South Africa so in her capacity as C40 Cities Co-Chair, it her pleasure to meet with the Mayors of Johannesburg and Tshwane as they begin planning the first ever U20 convening in Africa.

With several other speaking and media engagements, it was a hectic but very productive 2 days in which she was also able to advance conversations on funding for the Freetown Cable Car and the expansion of FreetownTheTreeTown.