The thirteenth session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13) takes place in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 17 to 22 May 2026. The theme of WUF13 is: Housing the world: Safe and resilient cities and communities.
This event explores how law, governance, and policy can bridge the gap between national climate ambitions and local realities, putting cities at the center of climate action. The urgency of aligning urban development with climate action has never been clearer. Cities are at the heart of both the climate crisis and its solutions, responsible for a significant share of global emissions, yet uniquely positioned to drive transformative change. Effective climate action depends not only on ambition, but also on the systems, legal, institutional, and financial, that enable delivery. This event explores how legal and policy frameworks can bridge the gap between national climate ambitions and local urban realities. This event will mark the official launch of UN-Habitat's latest report on the urban content of NDCs 3.0, including evidence how governments are moving towards lining out concrete measures across mitigation and adaptation and the means of implementation to turn this ambition into action on the ground. It underscores the pivotal role of cities in delivering national climate goals, while calling for stronger legal, institutional, and governance frameworks to support implementation at the local level. By focusing on the intersection of law, urban governance, and climate policy, this event highlights a key opportunity: accelerate climate action by weaving city priorities into national plans, strengthening laws and policies, while equipping local governments with the mandates, tools, and resources to deliver. Panelists: Anacláudia Rossbach, Executive Director, UN-Habitat Selwin Hart, Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Climate Action and Just Transition Tomáš Taraba, Deputy Prime Minister, Slovakia Justice Zione Ntaba, High Court Judge, Malawi Henk Ovink, Special Envoy Water, Netherlands Fiona McCluney, UN-Habitat Lea Ranalder, UN-Habitat
