1st Session - Forum of Mayors 2026

And had a wonderful prep meeting. It was overcrowded. This was a very good message for us to start this morning with an overcrowded session. So just please have a seat that we can start. Excellencies, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, also a warm welcome, especially to Jean Todt. as the UN Secretary General Special Envoy for Road Safety, Tatjana Muggin, Darren Tang. I come to the others later on. Ladies and gentlemen, dear colleagues and friends, I'm Eckart, Eckart Wurznau. I'm the mayor of a wonderful city in Europe, which is called Heidelberg, with more than 10 million tourists. I think it's well known, but it's also well known as a science city, a science driven city and an innovative city. So that's also the reason why I'm very pleased that we met here in this wonderful WIPO room where innovation is distributed and we are now partner in this structure. And therefore, I think it's wonderful that Mr. Chang has taken over the idea also to bring us here and to work close together, cities to cities and WIPO, the organization for innovation. Because as you know, we all know as mayors and lady mayors that we are trying to create our cities as sandbox models to implement new innovations as early as possible and be in a driving force when it comes to implement sustainable strategies, resilience strategies, and therefore we need this open-minded society who is open-minded also for innovation. It is both an honor and a privilege to open the sixth meeting of the forum organized under the auspices of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe or UNECE and therefore I wanted really to thank especially Tatiana Moljevic who is supporting us all the time. She's believing with UNECE that we as cities are a driving unit when we are talking about our topics, not only about SDG 11. And I'm very pleased that we have this close relation also with the Forum of Mayors Bureau. I warmly welcome all participants, mayors and attendants to Geneva and to this beautiful convention hall. We are grateful to the World Intellectual Property Organization, WIPO, for hosting this year's event, and I'm also particularly pleased to see such broad participants from cities across UNECE regions and also beyond. So I really want to give those a special welcome who come from Saudi Arabia, from Africa, from United States, from Australia. I think we are already very international hub also if we are still the UN Forum of Mayors for the UNECE, but we work hardly on developing us. Before moving forward, let me please remind you that you might choose your language from the control panel as your desk. We will have interpretation in three official UNECE languages, English, French and Russia. Thanks also to the Swiss government and as well thanks to the Spanish and Arabic translation to the city of Geneva. As cities play an increasingly important role in advancing national, regional and global objectives, UN Forum of Mayors offers us really the unique opportunity and solution to common challenges and to foster cooperations, solidarity and collective action towards a safer, resilient and sustainable future. I look forward to learning from one another and building stronger partnership to ensure that your experiences and perspectives contributes to shaping the policies and solutions needed for a more sustainable future. Our term this year is cities delivering for a sustainable future. We reflect a simple reality. Cities are where many global challenges are felt most directly, but also where solutions are being developed every day through innovation, resilient communities, effective partnerships, and bold leadership. National and global commitments must ultimately be delivered on the ground in our city. And I think everybody of you noticed a huge movement which we have at the moment, that citizens more and more are not really believing national governments because they are quite far away, but more and more believing in local and regional leadership. Therefore, our role is also in the next years, a much more also politically relevant role than it was before. And if we are talking about keeping our structure safe, resilient, and also on a base that everybody gets a perspective in our cities and countries, The cities will take leadership and national governments has to accept that we have to be a real partner on the table and be an equal cooperation partner when it comes to the implementation of the structures like the SDG Goal 11 on sustainable cities and communities. We wanted to discuss especially the points on affordable housing, mobility and road safety, inclusive urban spaces, environmental protection, resilient and cultural heritage points later on. Inclusivity was also specifically highlighted at the side event organised by Global Disability Fund earlier this morning, which was, in my opinion, a very fruitful discussion and relevant point. We will also explore how innovation and creativity can help us build more inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable cities. I'm perfectly pleased that this discussion will also feature the WIPO City Award ceremony. So an award, a new award from WIPO to those cities who are going in front when it comes to the implementation of innovation. Many thanks that this is taking place and that you really see us as a driving unit in the implementation of innovation. And it gives us the opportunity to recognize and celebrate cities that are putting innovation and creativity at the heart of a sustainable urban development. Dear colleagues and friends, the challenges before us are significant, but so are the opportunities. The six years of this forum, and we are just six years old, that we are very effective, have shown the value of bringing city leaders together in an official, and I think this is the main relevant point, official UN body to exchange experiences, strengthen partnership, and speak with a collective voice. Over the next two days, let us build on this experience, share practical solutions, and ensure that the perspectives and experiences of cities continue to shape the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and the Agenda 2030. Our meeting will culminate in the adoption of an outcome document, which is already on the line, through which we will be able not only to reaffirm our commitments, but also convey calls to national governments and international actors for continued cooperation and support. We will now start with the program and it's a privilege and a pleasure for me to invite Tatiana Moljean as the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Forum Commission for Europe, UNECE, for her welcoming remarks. Please give her a warm applause.

Excellencies, distinguished mayors, colleagues and friends. Welcome to the sixth meeting of the United Nations Forum of Mayors, Cities Delivering for a Sustainable Future. And this time this year, we have representatives from over 80 cities joining us. And this is a year of record participation that brings a wealth of expertise and knowledge into the discussions that I hope we'll have during these days. Thank you first of all to you, to mayors and deputy mayors who have made it possible to join this forum discussions and making it a priority in your very busy daily agendas. I also would like to thank WIPO, Director General Tang, for your generous host, being a generous host in this wonderful building, in this house of intelligence, innovation, and I hope this will bring a different spirit for our discussions as well and will inspire all of us. But also to the many partners that we have in this discussions, they, all of my colleagues from UN Regional Economic Commissions, from the Global Cities Hub, the Local 2030 Coalition, UCLG, ICLE, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, Mathieu Morin is here with us, the UNDRR is also joining, UN-Habitat, ITU, and the World Cities Culture Forum. My special thanks goes, of course, to our board, to the Mayor Ursner, Councillor Dyer, Mayor Springerova, and Mayor Kitsos for their leadership and in some cases for hosting us here. Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, the value of sustainable development commitment is in reality measured by people's daily lives, whether they can afford a house, drive safely, rely on public services when disaster strikes, and not only. So here in Geneva, we have felt this, you know, the sustainable development in a very practical way, for example, when the heat wave hit this summer, yes, as Switzerland experienced its hottest summer on record. We also looked at, with new eyes, at sustainable development when we saw the deadly floods that we have tragically witnessed in Nepal, Thailand, or Senegal. And in all of these cases, we have seen that mayors are the ones who are on the frontline of protecting residents and keeping essential services running. And for us, those in international organization and international cooperation, it's a feeling that our international cooperation must provide you with the means to meet these responsibilities. And I would like to underline three aspects that I believe we at this forum of mayors have to address. The first one is that we must match the responsibilities of cities with the means to fulfill it. And just before this, I had a wonderful discussion with the mayor of Bilbao, where exactly this was discussed, the means to fulfill the responsibility. National climate and development strategy depend on local implementation. Cities need a meaningful role in shaping their strategy, predictable financing, and the capacity to prepare projects that can attract investments. Asking municipalities to deliver more without addressing these conditions leaves a gap between ambition and results. This requires stronger cooperation between national, local governments, but also closer engagement with the development banks and other financing partners. The experience that you bring to this forum should help identify where funding arrangements, regulations, or institutional barriers are holding back delivery and what needs to change. The second aspect is that we have to have a holistic approach. Housing, mobility, and climate resilience have to be into the same planning and investment decision. They cannot be treated separately. Urban planning requires us to consider how different decisions affect one another and the people they are intended to serve. Affordable housing and all the bilaterals and all the engagements I have about affordable housing. And affordable houses loses much of its value if residents face long, costly journey to work. Yes, transport, public transport. Energy renovation can reduce emissions and household bills. But its benefits must also reach those who are least able to pay for it. So urban green spaces should be planned where they can protect people most exposed to heat, for example. And this all this areas, this synergy, this connection are very at the core of what UNICE is doing. Yes, our work or where UNICE can contribute. our expertise across the housing, transport, energy and environment can help countries and you, the cities, make decisions that work together. And I hope that this forum and the discussion that we'll have will offer this possibility to bring this expertise to exchange, make all use of the formal discussions like we have now. But we also have, I know, a wonderful lounge waiting for you to have more cozy I would say atmosphere for exchanges and we at UNICE are ready to share this expertise that I have mentioned and always we should look at inclusion we should ask ourself how each investment in each of the sectors um addressing the needs of all groups young and older person also persons with disability and we also should look at how this provides for very open and inclusive society for women, for girls. My third point, and I think this is why we are here in the international Geneva and we have this sixth edition of the forum, is that we must give local experience greater influence in international corporations. Mayors can show where agreed policy work, where they don't work, where there are shortfalls, and what it takes to implement them. The forum should use this evidence to inform national and intergovernmental decision. The chair already mentioned the role and the importance of discussing on SDG 11, on sustainable cities and communities, but we are really looking beyond one SDG, we need mayors experience and knowledge in the entire sustainable development agenda. Over these two days, I encourage you to share your most pressing challenges and the conditions behind your successes, including the financing, partnerships and difficult decisions that made them possible. Our host, WIPO, also brings an important perspective on innovations and creativity. Already, as we will celebrate the WIPO City of Innovation Award, let's consider how innovation can improve public services. And it's not only this one traditional already pledge that exists in UNICE and that I am a personal fan of, UNICE Trees in Cities pledge, is another practical avenue for cooperation. And I once again invite those of you who have not joined to do so and pledge to plant trees in your cities. We have already over 120 cities that have joined and more than 20 million trees planted all over the world. This is a very small, of course, but very powerful gesture. And I think this is what we all can achieve together. Distinguished mayors, let us engage in this forum. And then after we are concluding this forum with a very clear set of priorities for joint action, for partnership, and how we can move forward in achieving them. UNICE's commitment is to help you and to transform this from declarations and statements into action. And I wish all of us, all of you, first of all, a very successful and very practical United Nations Forum of Mayors.

Thank you.

Thank you, Tatiana. I think it's always very important for us to notice that we have such a strong relation and commitment for an empowerment of local and regional governments on the international level. I will give now the floor to Director General Chang from WIPO.

Let me start by thanking the chair of the forum, Mayor Eckart Woessner, and of course my dear friend, Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Europe and Central Asia, Tatiana Mochny. Excellencies, mayors, distinguished delegates, for the pleasure of hosting the sixth UN Forum Mayors and to warmly, warmly welcome you to Wipo. I hear from the chair and from the Executive Secretary that there are over 500 representatives of cities in our humble conference hall from over close to 90 cities. I'm looking around at your plates. Some of the cities are places I've visited in my time as the Waipu DG as well as in other capacities. And it's really such an honour to have all of you with us under this Waipu roof. This year's theme, cities delivering for a sustainable future, is extremely timely. Cities are managing rapid growth, climate pressures, and changing public needs. Meeting these challenges will require new technologies, better solutions, and creative approaches that can be adapted to local circumstances. Intellectual property, IP, has an important role to play in making all of these possible. Now, I often joke that WIPO is the most important UN agency that you have never heard of before. And that's because intellectual property traditionally has been seen as something very technical that only experts and lawyers are interested in and need to be interested in. And this is really what we're trying to change at WIPO. We do not want IP to just be about legal technicalities and rights. We want it to be about bringing an idea to the market, supporting the development of the city's innovation ecosystem, and catalyzing its digital knowledge and creative economy. So, at WIPO, we don't just help countries pass IP laws, but we help, more importantly, member states build an IP ecosystem that creates jobs, supports entrepreneurs, attracts investments, and drives growth, development, and competitiveness. And in getting to address our global challenges, our common global challenges as encapsulated in the SDGs, You need to have innovation and creativity in order to address them, and therefore in all these areas, intellectual property plays a very important role. And cities, of course, are central to all of this work that we do in promoting innovation and creativity. Throughout human history, urban centers have brought people and ideas together in ways that have contributed to advances in knowledge, culture, and economic social development. Just to name a few examples, ancient Athens and Alexandria were famous as centers of learning and scholarship. Baghdad continued these traditions in a difficult period, but also brought together knowledge from different intellectual traditions. And Renaissance Florence became a major center of innovation in art, architecture, and science. And the part of the world I come from, Southeast Asia, you have cities like Angkor Wat, Ayutthaya, Malacca, and Yogyakarta, there were major centers of learning, art, and culture as well. So the cities that you lead bring together talent, knowledge, culture, infrastructure, and enterprise. When these strengths are connected through sound policies and effective innovation ecosystems and communities, they turn local ingenuity into inclusive growth and sustainable development. This is why WIPO is deepening our engagement with cities, and this is why we are pleased that innovation and creativity will be part of this forum's agenda. Today's gathering also demonstrates the value of cooperation across the United Nations family, and we thank the UNECE for inviting us to be part of this forum. By the way, the Executive Secretary used to be the chair of the WIPO General Assembly, so this hall is very familiar to her when she was chairing many of our meetings a few years ago. By combining the experience of city leaders like you with the expertise of international organizations, and of course, I think there are regional organizations represented here as well, the colleagues from the Council of Europe is here. By connecting all of these together, we can connect global and regional frameworks with local action and help good ideas and solutions move quickly across your communities. So over the next two days, I hope that this forum will generate practical ideas, fresh partnerships, and renewed momentum. WIPO stands ready to contribute by helping cities use innovation, creativity and intellectual property to deliver concrete benefits for your communities as well as to help us address the world's global challenges. I wish you a productive and inspiring forum and once again let me wish you a very, very warm welcome to WIPO. Thank you very much.

Thanks. General Director Tang, and also for your generous hospitality here, your wonderful rooms. I think it's a step into the future that we're seeing as this innovative driving unit. In my city, we implemented a new energy standard 15 years ago just to build climate neutral buildings, 100%. 15 years ago. Today this is not the national standard. Maybe in 15 years it is a national standard. So 30 years of innovation loss if you're not directly implementing technical solutions which we have available. So many thanks to be here. It's wonderful. I'm pleased to first introduce now the heads and high level representatives of our international partner organization presented here. on the podium and invite them to deliver their opening remarks and key topics to our agenda. We wanted to start with Mr. Jean Todt, United Nations Secretary General, Special Envoy for Road Safety. Wonderful to have you with us. Please, the floor is yours.

Dear Mayor, distinguished guests, colleagues, dear friends. It's a pleasure to be with city leaders from around the world for the sixth meeting of the Forum of Mayors. I'd like to thank the Mayor of Vienna for chairing this year's forum, and my friend Tatiana and Darren for the opening remarks and ongoing leadership. This gathering comes at a critical moment. Over the next 25 years, the world's urban population will grow by more than 2 billion people, 2 billion people. The challenge is not only where they will live, it is whether they will be able to move safely through their communities. Today, we are not prepared. Every year, road crashes kill approximately 1.2 million people and leave another 50 million injured across the world. They cost the global economy 3.6 trillion US dollars annually, about 3 to 5% of the GDP. Incredibly, this remains mostly hidden, still seen as a cost of living in a modern world. I call it a silent pandemic. Road crashes are the number one global killer of children and young people, yet they are almost entirely preventable. The causes are well understood, not wearing a seatbelt or helmet, driving while under the influence of drugs, of alcohol, distracted driving, and excessive speed. A pedestrian hit by a vehicle moving at 50 kilometers per hour has an eight times greater risk of dying than one hit at 30 kilometers per hour. This is why I strongly encourage every city to adopt and properly enforce a default urban speed limit of 30 kilometers per hour. This will save lives of the most vulnerable road users. But safer cities require more than lower speeds. As our streets become more congested, we need sales investment in reliable and accessible public transport. For cities that can afford it, there is no excuse for inaction. But the reality is that many cities do not have the capacity to build and maintain modern public transport system at the speed and scale required. As e-scooters, e-bikes, and other electric micro-mobility devices become cheaper and more widespread, more people will rely on them for urban transport. Unfortunately, regulation and enforcement of these devices is far beyond the reality on the road, and it is putting lives at risk. I urge every mayor here today to enact three simple measures to protect electric micro-mobility users. Mandate helmet for all riders, require riders to wear reflecting clothing, and require all devices capable of traveling faster than 25 kilometers per hour to display a license plate. Each of these steps will make riders safer and more responsible for their actions, but only if there is a consistent enforcement. And there is much more that can be done in our cities. Separated cycling lanes, well-marked pedestrian crossings, and traffic-calming measures can all make the difference between a journey home and a journey to the hospital, and sometimes never come back home. 21st century cities must be designed for the safe coexistence of every type of road user. We must also get serious about motorcycle safety. In many regions, this is the number one form of urban transport, but it is also the number one type of vehicle involved in road deaths worldwide. Today, most countries have laws requiring the use of helmets on powered two and three wheelers, but far too often, there is no enforcement. And unfortunately, many helmets being sold will not protect the head in a crash. This is why I continue to call for two UN certified standard helmets to be sold with every new motorcycle. It's simple. If cars come with seatbelts, motorcycles should come with helmets. I challenge every leader here today to make this a law in your city. Through the Safe and Affordable Helmets Initiative, my office is helping to bring millions of these helmets to communities for less than $20 each. Cost is no longer an excuse for inaction. Finally, effective policies and stronger enforcement must go hand in hand with proper education and awareness. I'm delighted to have the support of the GCD co-number one billboard company and international celebrities to bring our global campaign for road safety to southern cities across 80 countries by the end of the year. I urge every city to strengthen its awareness efforts. But knowledge is only the first step. We need concrete action from national and city governments, transport authorities, planners, businesses and communities to put these solutions into practice. I count on each of you to do more, and my office is at your disposal to collaborate on this crucial work. Thank you, and I wish you a successful forum.

Many thanks, Sean Todd, and it's also a great privilege that you take the time to join us. I think you're very busy going around the whole world and take time to be with us. Wonderful. We go to Mrs. Paola Albretu, Director of the United Nations Office of Disaster Risk and Reduction. Please, the floor is yours.

Distinguished guests, Excellencies, Mayors and colleagues, it is a real privilege to join you today at this opening of the Forum of Mayors. I would like to thank Tatiana Molchan, the Executive Secretary of UNECE, for having us at this important forum. It is particularly fitting to know that this forum coincides with the International Day for Disaster Reduction, that takes place on the 13th of October. This year's theme is "Resilience starts at home". This is something that really resonates with all of you as mayors and all of you as participants to this forum. Resilience starts where people live, in our home, neighborhoods and city. but also it must be supported by resilient infrastructure, housing and essential services that are managed by your authorities. Cities are where resilience is built or lost, and mayors are at the forefront of that responsibility, protecting people keeping essential services running, and ensuring that the places where people live, work, and raise their family can withstand increasing and evolving risk. This year, as you already mentioned, your responsibility has been very much tested like never before. Europe has just lived through one of the hottest summer on records. Successive heat wave, extreme temperature, mounting pressure on health system, energy grids, transport network, and vulnerable communities. This is no longer an exceptional event. It is a risk that we must anticipate and build on into how we plan, how we structure our city, how we're going to be looking at our development. This is why resilient infrastructure and housing must be at the center of our approach. Resilience means ensuring that the home where people live in, the infrastructure that they depend on, and the services their community rely upon are designed to withstand future shock and stresses. Basically, being disaster resilience means being sustainable. This week brings a series of events for the International Day of Disaster Risk Reduction, including one in particular that I would like to highlight to you. On the 15th of October, UNDRR is convening the Facing Extreme Heat in Europe, here in Geneva, a focused roundtable in order to examine what has worked, what hasn't worked, but also what have you reflected upon with this extreme heat summer? And this is going to be helping also identifying the priorities for next year, as well as for the upcoming COP31. Mayors, you are on the front line of this climate emergency. But you are also the one that is leading on solutions. Reflections have been made. Our mayors are now leading the international agenda, are finding solutions to challenges that seems to be so tangible to every single individual. So here, we can really look and reflect on how to find common solutions. So As you are going to be returning to your cities and while you're here in Geneva, I do have also three practical, very practical asks for you. First, stress test your critical infrastructure against the climate extreme, but not the climate extreme that you measured 10 years ago. The climate extreme that you are seeing now and that you're going to be seeing in the future. Second, If you haven't joined the Making City Resilience 2030, please do so. And if you've already done so, think about becoming a resilient hub so that you can really share your experiences and learn from other cities. And third, Please join us this Thursday at the event that is going to be looking at the extreme events in Europe. This can really bring your city experiences from the summer, but also shape up priorities that are going to be discussed at the COP31. UNDRR is proud to stand with you for each single step in order to be resilient to disasters, and also to work very closely with UNECE in support of your efforts. So I very wish you a very productive forum here for this week. Thank you.

Many thanks, Paola. And also thank you for the invitation for Thursday, when we can go much deeper in the discussion. I think it's really changing our whole policy on the local level in the next years. Many thanks for your speech. We come to the mayor of Geneva, Kristina Kitsos. You all know her, ex-officio member of the 2026 Forum of Mayors Bureau and president of the Global Cities Hub.

Mr. President.

Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, mayors, dear colleagues, friends, it's a real pleasure to extend a warm welcome to you on behalf of the authorities of the town of Geneva here. We in Geneva are very proud to host the UN Forum of Mayors, and we have done since it was created, and to provide to it a political, logistical, financial support, together with the Canton of Geneva and the Swiss Confederation, and also thanks to the outstanding work of the Global Cities Hub. May I start, with your permission, by quoting someone Angela Davis, the militant, a quote I really like. I no longer accept things I cannot change. Now, time has come for me to change those things that I cannot accept. Political responsibility or accountability starts in all likelihood with refusing to consider injustice as a something that is unavoidable. This demand gives meaning to our SDGs, thanks to us upholding strong values such as social justice, such as climate justice, such as equality. The setback in the realisation of the SDGs forces us today to call into question the political choices that have taken away from SDGs and demand that we change our course Towns have powers. Remember what happened in Minneapolis. The mass ICE operations against the migrants, they ended in February 2026 because of the combined pressure of historical people's mobilisation and also frontal opposition by local elected officials, including the mayor. themselves. The inhabitants organised people's patrols and blockades and ongoing demonstrations to force the federal forces to stop their misdeeds and to ensure that the friends, colleagues, neighbors be protected and that fundamental rights be respected. That is, I believe, an excellent example which shows what towns are capable of when they face injustice, or at least what they should be capable of face in the face of injustice. There's a certain lack of political will by a number of states and that is no longer acceptable. A huge mismatch exists between commitments under a shoulders in 2015 and means to set aside for the realization of the SDGs. The annual deficit of financing of SDGs in developing countries is around 4 billion $4 trillion, according to the UN, which makes one's mind spin looking at this mismatch. If you look at the countries that need to have the highest needs, they are those the countries which have the lowest budgetary margins. The drop of ODA, official development assistance, makes this difficulty worse. The fact that inequality is increasing and is an absolutely cause for real concern for us to be indignant. In 2026, Oxfam published a report saying that the billionaires' wealth increased by 80% between 2020-2025. So over five years, it increased 80%. The report on global inequalities in 2026 shows that the richest 10% own 75% of global wealth. and the least wealthy own 2% of global wealth. Looking at these figures, we know that the means exist, the money's there, but the redistribution of wealth is just not happening. In this context, certain political parties continue to demand tax breaks for those very people who own the greatest amount of wealth in Switzerland. the same thing is happening. 1% of the wealthiest own 42% of national wealth. So when we see constant tax breaks, then we see states losing their purchasing power and they have to end up playing just a fireman's job, putting out fires. As long as we privatize profits and socialize debt, nothing will change. Economic policies are thus contradictory in nature. Most of the time, they are not consistent with our SDGs aims. Some states support ecological transition, whilst at the same time funding activities which slow it down. To give you a concrete example, global subsidies for fossil fuels still reach around $1.15 trillion according to SDG 12. These states continue to fuel these fuels and support policies that could support sustainable development. Transition is also slowed down by the AI race, which is draining away natural resources, and yet no support measure is adopted or conceived to combat this. We can no longer accept this hypocrisy. We must fight for a new world wherein every child can live in safety and have a decent life. We must ensure our voice is heard in those bodies where the future of the planet is decided and the future of the humans inhabiting the earth. Multilateralism must take into account the voice and the experience of towns, but also the voice and experience of those we don't hear enough, and in particular women, the youth, children, and the countries of the global south who absolutely must be involved in all decision-making processes. Towns are often the last wall against the rise of authoritarianism. The principle of, well, community principles and our breaks against, that we are a rampart against excess. The closer we are to the ground, we better understand the needs and the concerns of the people, and we feel responsible for our co-citizens who live in neighborhoods and towns. Towns are often places where people are welcomed, there is diversity, social cohesion exists, we support the most vulnerable. We are a bastion for freedom of expression and we provide public services, that is the towns. We're at the forefront of what is being done to defend human rights. As Eleanor Roosevelt said, human rights begin in every town, in every neighborhood, sorry, in every neighborhood, in every street, in every town. Given the size of the challenges, towns need more needs. Anger and resentment are causing towns to explode and we must recover our ability to act, not only to mitigate the consequences of disastrous policies conceived in ivory towers, but also to combat a predatory system which is leading to the destruction of the planet and the destruction of living organisms and at the end of the day of human beings. Worldwide, towns are talking to each other, but a place where mayors speak to each other with SDGs at the background, there's only one, namely the UN Forum of Mayors, which we are involved in today here in Geneva. at a time when the international community is starting to think about how to interact with the development agenda. The towns and the regions from the start of negotiations should work together to achieve collectively defined goals I invite States to renew the mandate of the UN Forum of Mayors for 2027-2028 and to raise the status of this body within the UN structure. The UN Forum of Mayors must be able to report directly to a main chief UN body such as ECOSOC. The creation of a status for towns and local and regional governments would enable them to be fully involved in the UN's work. Before I conclude, may I once again thank very warmly, UNECE and all the other regional economic commissions who have been actively working with the Global Cities Hub to support and develop the UN Forum of Mayors. I would like to also thank all mayors, you, ladies and gentlemen here, present in this room this morning for your daily commitment to all of these matters. I wish you every success in the next two days during which you'll be able to work and meet each other. Let's hope that this inspires us to create a fair and longer lasting world. Thank you.

Thanks, Kristina, for your engaged speech and also for your great support for the Forum of Mayors, I have to say this. We come to Matthew Mori, Secretary General of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe. And please look a little bit, three minutes.

Excellencies, dear mayors, distinguished representatives, ladies and gentlemen, it's a pleasure to join you to this Forum of Mayors this year again. I think we all agree, and it's been mentioned several times, we all agree that a sustainable future will be built in our cities and communities. But local action alone will not be enough. We will need innovation, it's been said. We will need political will. We need more inclusion, as Mayor Kitsos just said. We also need strong rights, strong institutions, and strong legal commitments on road safety, Jean Todt just told us about that, and on sustainability more generally. And this is where the Council of Europe and its Congress of Local and Regional Authorities are working at making a distinctive contribution for sustainability. Our organization, with its 46 member states, has a unique strength in this discussion. turning shared values and objectives into binding legal commitments. The European Convention on Human Rights protects fundamental rights and freedoms. The European Social Charter safeguards social rights, including the right to housing. And the European Charter of Local Self-Government protects the democratic and financial autonomy that local authorities need to act. Together, these treaties provide an essential foundation for sustainable communities. But today, we must go further. Because what becomes of our citizens if the environment on which they depend is no longer livable? Without clean air, safe water, and a stable climate, our rights, our freedoms, and ultimately our human dignity are at risk. For mayors, these are no abstract questions. They concern the air people breathe, the water they drink, the homes they live in, and the ability of their communities to withstand extreme heat, floods, and other environmental threats. The European Court of Human Rights has already recognized the importance of effective climate action, notably in its landmark Klima Zenuhinen judgment. Yet, we cannot rely on case-by-case judgments, on environmental-related jurisprudence of the court, or the guidance offered by the International Court of Justice regarding the duty to ensure a clean and healthy environment. This is why the Council of Europe is now exploring how to strengthen the legal protection of the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, including through a possible binding instrument. And the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities is contributing to this ambition from the perspective of local democracy. We are indeed putting forward an additional protocol to the European Charter of Local Self-Government on environmental protection. Our message is clear. Local authorities cannot be expected to deliver environmental commitments without the powers, resources, and meaningful participation in environmental decisions that affect their communities. These two initiatives are complementary. One seeks to strengthen the protection of environmental rights, the other, the capacity of local authorities to help make those rights a reality. And this is essential. Whether we speak of affordable housing, climate resilience, or access to water, sustainability requires cooperation across all levels of government. It requires national governments to provide the legal frameworks and financial means, and local authorities to have a genuine voice in shaping the decisions that are expected to implement. Ladies and gentlemen, as we look towards the 2027 SDG Summit and the future beyond Agenda 2030, we must ensure that sustainability is not simply another political promise. It must be anchored in rights, supported by law, and delivered through strong local democracy. This is the contribution the Council of Europe and its Congress are determined to make. Because a sustainable future is not only about protecting our planet, it is about protecting the dignity, rights and future of the people who live on it. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Matthew. You're speaking for so many. We are now coming to the UCLG, the President, Mr. Ugoa, Ibrahim Altay, please. The floor is yours.

Excellencies, Excellencies, General Directors, participants, dear friends. I bring you greetings from Selcuklu, Konya, the ancient capital that keeps alive the heritage of Seljuks and the universal legacy of justice of Mevlana Rumi. On behalf of UCLG, it is my pleasure to be with you at the sixth United Nations Forum of Mayors. I'd like to thank Mayor Wurster, the members of the Bureau and the UNECE Secretariat, as well as the Mayor of Geneva, Madam Christina Kitsos, for her kind hospitality. By fostering dialogue between the UN and local governments, this forum brings global commitments closer to people's daily lives. The impacts of challenges such as climate change, housing, mobility, energy, water, and inequality converge at the local level. That is why local and regional governments are not merely implementers, they are political actors, democratic institutions and indispensable stakeholders in delivering solutions. The report under Action 55e of the Pact for the Future identifies this forum as an effective mechanism for strengthening engagement between the UN and local governments. Of course, our priority is to make this engagement institutional, predictable, and meaningful. Finance is its most tangible test. And the recognition of our financing needs in CFI was a very important step. We must build on this step through reliable fiscal transfers, greater fiscal space, and direct access to climate and development finance. This financing challenge is also evident in housing, and housing must be treated not merely as an investment asset, but also as a human right and a public good. More than 2.8 billion people worldwide face inadequate housing conditions. The financialization of housing and speculation are making access to affordable housing increasingly difficult. Housing is also at the heart of the climate agenda. Therefore, we should consider the right to housing and climate action together. As As COP31 Special Envoy for Cities and Local Governments, I see these issues as mutually reinforcing. How we plan and renew our homes and neighborhoods shapes both our resilience and our capacity to reduce emissions. I will be carrying the connection we are addressing here in Geneva to COP31 in Antalya, Turkey. Achieving our climate goals requires that the needs of cities and the problem-solving capacity of local governments be reflected in decision-making. Although local governments are responsible for planning, land management, social services, and housing provision, they often lack the necessary resources We need social, public, cooperative and affordable housing, strong protection against forced evictions and displacements. We welcome the inclusion in the draft outcome document of the right to housing and the challenges posed by financialization. Through the UCLG Housing Justice Academy, we are also developing solutions. Our aim is to transform the right to housing from a principle in international declarations into a concrete commitment. Dear colleagues, as our Memorandum of Understanding demonstrates, the partnership between UNECE and UCLG exemplifies dialogue, institutional continuity and a firm commitment to action. as a mandate and terms of reference. of the Forum are reviewed, I invite the Committee to preserve its stable institutional structure and to strengthen this Forum as a genuine bridge. I thank our partners in the Global Task Force of Local and Regional Governments. Dialogue between institutions is not an end in itself. The true purpose is to translate global commitments into tangible change into people's lives, and that is what the Forum aims for. I wish to affirm that we will continue to work with determination to strengthen multilateral cooperation at the local level and to deliver concrete results across the world. Thank you.

Thank you, Uga Ibrahim, for your speech. We come to the last speaker, and it was for us very important to hear also the voice of the civil society, and I'm very pleased to announce Mrs. Dr. Neliya Rakimova, who is the Regional Civil Society Engagement Mechanism at UNECE RAD platform. Please.

Dear Excellencies, distinguished mayors, colleagues, and representatives of civil society, it's a pleasure for me to address you today on behalf of one of major groups and other stakeholders. When we speak about sustainable development, we often focus just on targets, goals, and indicators. But behind every target are decisions about priorities, resources, and whose needs are addressed. Many of you are elected leaders, directly accountable to your communities. Sustainable development is therefore not simply an international commitment. It should be part of the political commitments you make to your residents. And this is particularly evident in the SDG Centre review this year. Access to clean water, affordable energy, resilient infrastructure, and sustainable communities, it all depends significantly on local decisions. Cities also are on front lines of increasingly complex crisis, and lots of colleagues already mentioned that. Climate-related disasters, armed conflicts, and emerging cybersecurity threats create new vulnerabilities. When crisis strike, local authorities and communities face the immediate consequences, with civil society and volunteers often among the first who respond. And this brings me to another essential message. Sustainable cities cannot be built without their people. Residents are not simply beneficiaries of development policies. They are right holders who must have a meaningful voice in decisions affecting their lives. This principle should also guide voluntary local reviews. They must go beyond reporting achievements to enable meaningful participation, independent assessment, and honest reflection on challenges. They should also connect local realities with national reporting and global accountability. Finally, we approach 2030. Decisions about the future of global sustainable development agenda is already under discussion. Cities must not be absent from these negotiations. Your role in implementation is widely recognized here. Now your experience and perspectives must also help shape the next global framework and recognized by it. But participation must go hand in hand with the meaningful engagement of civil society and other stakeholders. We need a future agenda that is shaped not only by national governments, but also by those who implement it, experience its consequences and hold institutions accountable. The future of sustainable development will be decided globally, but it will be experienced locally. Let us ensure that cities and their communities have a meaningful voice in shaping it. Thank you.

Many thanks also to Dr. Nelia Dakimapa and to all the speakers for the opening session. I think it was a very fruitful start up for our Forum of Mayors. We wanted to go in a lot of more detailed discussions later on, but I think it's very important to see how strong the relations are to all the other networks. And I think this is absolutely important for the future to binding those strengths to become more powerful, more seen, and more on the political agenda, not only on topic of the different points. Many thanks for your participation. Please stay as speakers. We wanted to have a photo now. Please, I invite all mayors and deputy mayors, also those who are not a speaker, to come in front, row behind us and in front of us so that we have a photo. I think the photo will be made from there. So please come in front, all mayors, lady mayors, and deputy mayors.

Please stay here.

We just stay. I think they row up. Let's see. I think it's I think if you try to make a second, third row, it must fit. somebody wants to lay in front it's also welcome okay okay smile and we have a wonderful picture Okay, wonderful. So many thanks. Well done.

Thank you.

Okay.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Wonderful. I give you my card. Maybe we stay in contact. Wonderful. Thank you. Thank you. Wonderful.

Fine, fine. Always busy.

Oh, sorry. How are you?

I'm fine. How are you?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Test.

Thank you.

It is. I haven't seen any movie.

This morning.

So, please have a seat again. I think this photo was very meaningful and a good reminder how many mayors and deputy mayors are joining here So we are coming now to the adoption of the agenda. We wanted to adopt our agenda. Everybody has written through the agenda. And now the agenda, I now invite you to kindly adopt the agenda. Is anybody against this agenda or has any ideas? This is not the case. So we can approve it. Thank you. Then it's approved. So we're coming to the first deep dive to sustainable mobility and road safety. And I'm very pleased that we have lots of experts here to discuss with us this topic. And I welcome Tony Dyer on the left side of my side. He is leader of the Bristol City Council. from United Kingdom, Vice Chair of the Bureau. And also, I am very pleased that James, now, where is, where, James Maturu, Nairobi. I'm just waiting. Can you just come in front, please? Please, join us here. So, I wanted to introduce Mr. James James Njugwa, Deputy Governor of Nairobi, Kenya, as a co-moderator for the first thematic discussion. Both of you, Tony and James, will take over the moderation of this session and I'm very pleased and would like to give you the floor.

Thank you. Welcome. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm very pleased to share the co-moderator role for this segment with Mr. Muchiri, Deputy Governor of Nairobi. Our discussion focuses on sustainable mobility and road safety under SDG 11.2. And you revealed earlier for Mr. Jean Totte about road safety or lack of road safety being the major, the primary cause of death for children across the world today. Sustainable, safe and accessible mobility is fundamental to the function of our cities. It determines how people access employment, education, healthcare and other essential services. while also having important implications for climate action, public health, inclusion and the overall quality of urban life. Cities are at the forefront of these efforts. Local governments have a critical role in shaping transport systems, improving road safety, promoting public transport and active mobility. and ensuring that streets and public spaces are accessible and safe for everyone. Mayor Maturu, would you like to say some words?

Thank you very much. Thank you very much. The Vice Chair of Mayor's Forum, happy to be here today as the Deputy Governor of Nairobi. And the key things that we need to look at around sustainable mobility and road safety are not just issues of road safety, but also urban congestion, things around non-motorized transport, clean mobility, and also the financing around these initiatives. So, it is my great pleasure to be here to co-moderate these important discussions with the Vice Chair of the UN Forum of Mayors, Councillor Dyer. I'm pleased that the practice of bringing mayors from the outside of the UNECE region to the podium as co-moderators has now become a tradition of the UN Forum of Mayors. I believe this reflects the value of bringing together cities from different regions and learning from each other, and that the forum provides the right platform for this exchange. To introduce the topic and set the stage for discussions, it is my pleasure to invite Mr. Alexander Keipson. from UNCE Sustainable Transport Division, Chief of Section of Vehicles Regulation and Transport Innovation to deliver the framing presentations. Please, Mr. Ebsen, the floor is yours.

Thank you, Excellencies, Mayors, dear colleagues. It's a pleasure to have the opportunity to be before you here. I come from the UNECE, as was mentioned, Sustainable Transport Division, where I very recently joined over the summer. So I'll be speaking to you from the perspective of both some past roles that I've had in national government, city government, safety NGOs, and advocacy organizations, as well as the UNECE itself. So I'll bring to you this simple proposition that Safe mobility leads to sustainable cities and that sustainable transport is not just about moving as many motor vehicles or cars through a given location as possible, but indeed about access to opportunity, about access that is safe and reliable for all. And that's taking directly from sustainable development goal 11.2, the for all at the end of that SDG. I'll also argue that we can't get to SDG 11.2 for sustainable transport without also accomplishing SDG 3.6, which to remind us is having road deaths, cutting the violence on roads from traffic crashes so that sustainable transport is an authentic choice for all. Next slide. Just a couple of points to set us up. The transport system is really one system, but it operates at three different scales. So as mayors, you have oversight and purview of the city as a whole. And this means how land is developed, where housing and jobs and everyday needs are built. And this locks cities in, this locks cities into either long travel distances and increasing dependence on cars, increasing dependence on privately owned mobility, or shortening those distances and widening the opportunities for people of all ages to access those opportunities. At the network scale, so between the buildings, between your parks, between your amenities, there's a public transport and private transport network, is it connected? Or is it disconnected and fragmented? If you can see there, can you get there? And lastly, there's safe speeds and vehicles. So what actually travels? Who actually uses that network? Is it at speeds that are survivable? Are those journeys safe and inviting for, let's say, your six year old son or daughter to undertake on their own, or does it lock you in lock the citizens in to specific choices. So these three scales have to work together. They can either interact in a virtuous cycle or a vicious cycle. Implemented well, safety can make sustainability possible in your transport system. If Your land use allows choices and you infill rather than sprawl. And I have seen as someone who grew up in North America and has also traveled in different countries, different continents, different land use decisions, the impacts of those decisions. If we have safer speeds, safer streets, those invite also safer vehicles and operations. Let's say you have now a decision to have a certain speed limit. Let's say you have decisions to allow or disallow certain types of vehicles to be operated on those streets. There are certain liability or safety frameworks in place. This can inspire public confidence or it can shatter public confidence to autonomously use your city to get around whether you're six years old or 96 years old. by walking, by cycling, by taking public transport, by taking taxis or whatever operation is needed. But this has a feedback loop. And as was mentioned this morning, sometimes the city that works best is the city that works for those who are the most vulnerable, whether they're people with disabilities, people who are particularly young or otherwise vulnerable as well. You may have heard of the safe system. This really is describing a safe system that has different layers of protection. So if a person can get from A to B without a barrier, they can also get there without a mistake becoming a deadly mistake. Because all humans make mistakes, a safe transport system does not allow those mistakes to be fatal. A safe system anticipates human error, prevents it from becoming death or serious injury. And you may also be very familiar with the concept of Vision Zero. I'm happy that in one of my previous roles, I worked with our mayor in a city of 80,000 people, and it's now become one of the only cities in North America over 50,000 population that has not had a traffic death in the last four years. And when you reach that point, Let's see if the next slide works. When we reach that point, the question can become, well, what as a city can you do? What can cities do? And I'd like to point out, first of all, at UNECE, we have some well-kept secrets. We have at UNECE global legal instruments for both road traffic safety and vehicle regulations for safety. In fact, over 200 regulations. Yes, these can be in the purview of countries, of national governments, but the good news is cities often lead the way. In my experience, I worked for almost 20 years with cities large and small, from cities of 20,000 to cities of almost 10 million, and often Cities have more tools at their disposal than is immediately apparent. And one of those is that cities have budgets. Cities make decisions what they spend those budgets on. Fleets, vehicles, contracts, all of those are procurement. Procurement, in my experience, was also street policy. Depending on what kinds of vehicles you buy and operate and contract for, that can determine the kinds of streets your city can build, what kinds of networks it can build. And if your vehicles, if you use every instrument at your disposal, let's say you're buying a new refuse vehicles, you try to right size it. You don't buy the largest that you can, you buy the smallest that will perform the job. You make sure the driver can see other people, including children. You make sure the vehicle has appropriate safety technologies. And then you include last resort, again, multiple layers of protection. Let's say there is a crash, make the crash survivable. And then you require it across. You lead by example. You set that expectation for your contractors, supply chain, developers, and other stakeholders. And that is a process that can be scaled. It's a process I've seen, I've been involved in in my previous roles. For example, City of Boston there, you can see right below my photo, my video there, you can see a small snowplow. What did that small snowplow allow? It allowed sidewalks and cycle lanes to be built where they weren't built and maintained before because of snow conditions. That was then scaled up by City of New York. Meanwhile, in London, large trucks were frequently involved in fatal crashes with people cycling and using mopeds and two wheelers. They worked with UNECE over the last several years First, creating a city level program to only admit safe trucks where drivers could see those people on two wheelers or people cycling and walking. That became eventually now an international UN regulation for minimum safety performance of trucks. So it goes both ways. Cities can lead and they can influence international regulatory frameworks that lift up everyone else. And last slide. The other side of sustainable transport, once you have a safe system, is also making it as clean as possible. And this involves the same land use that I spoke about, the same networks that I talked about, but now layering the question of where do you charge? Where do you charge vehicles, electric vehicles? Where do you charge shared bikes, scooters, and other micro mobility, and so on, and the same principles apply there. Just as we have the UN legal instruments for road safety and vehicle safety, we have a group of experts on energy efficiency that is also a resource. Feel free to scan the QR code. And then on the last slide, truly the last slide, just want to thank you all and pose some questions that are on my mind and I'll be interested to hear from my fellow panelists what in your cities perhaps has delivered results on some of this safe system approach to developing a sustainable transport system and maybe who is still excluded, which residents or neighborhoods and why? Why is it maybe not scaling or is it? And what can we do together? Because in my experience, working across different levels of government and across public and private organizations is how often these results have happened. Working in a silo compared to working in partnership. can yield vastly different results at different time scales. So, again, thank you very much for the opportunity. I look forward to the robust discussion ahead, and thank you all.

Thank you, Mr. Epstein, for that very informative presentation and for setting the stage for our discussion. We will now turn to the participating mayors and deputy mayors to hear about their experiences and perspectives on advancing sustainable mobility and road safety. They are invited to consider one or several of the following guiding questions while making their brief interventions. They will find them in the background documents for the meeting, which are available online. I also invite the secretariat to project the questions, so they should now be on the screens, and I see they are. I will read them out for the benefit of interpretation. One, what policies, programmes and investments has your city implemented to promote safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable urban mobility? particularly public transport and active mobility, and what measurable results have these initiatives achieved? How is your city making public transport and active mobility more inclusive, particularly for women, children, and older persons, persons with disabilities, low-income communities and underserved areas. How is your city strengthening road safety, including through safer infrastructure, speed management, and better integration of safety into transport planning, while promoting walking, cycling, and public transport? Moving on to the next question. How is your city better connecting transport and land use planning to improve access to jobs, education, healthcare and other essential services? while strengthening connections between metropolitan centres and secondary and intermediate cities? What are the main political, institutional or financial and social barriers to advancing sustainable mobility, and how have you overcome them, including through innovative financing, governance and partnerships? And finally, how is your city using data, digital solutions and innovation, including electrification, to accelerate low and zero emission mobility and strengthen resilience to climate risks? What lessons could you share with other cities and where would you benefit most from city to city cooperation? To remind delegates, you are invited to request the floor by raising your city's nameplate. We, the co-moderators, will then invite you to speak. The order in which the floor will be given is, firstly, the mayors and deputy mayors from cities with a yellow nameplate, representing the official speakers participating in the meeting. Secondly, time permitting, mayors and deputy mayors from other cities attending the meeting. And third, representatives of city administrations, member states, international organizations, academia and NGOs. Before your intervention, please do not forget to announce your title and the name of the city you represent and the country where it is located. for example, the mayor of Geneva, Switzerland. To give everyone an opportunity to speak, please keep your interventions to no more than two minutes, and the two minutes will be displayed for you to be able to, hopefully, and we please we ask you to, to keep within those two minutes, and please ensure that it directly relates to the topics under discussion. Okay, you do have first. Okay, Colombo, would you like to go first?

Thank you. Good morning, everyone. Mr. Chair, honorable mayors, dear excellencies. At the outset, I express my appreciation to the UNECE and the Forum of Mayors for the invitation extended to Sri Lanka and the Colombo Municipality to participate in this important forum. Sri Lanka is firmly committed to advancing a rights-based policy framework for persons with disabilities. We are firm in our belief that persons with disabilities should not be subjects of charity, but should be citizens with equal rights. However, policy commitments remain mere words on paper if a citizen cannot physically leave their home to have an education, earn a living, visit a doctor, and realize their full potential. Over the years, access to Suitable public transport has been one of the greatest obstacles for Sri Lankans with disabilities. To overcome this barrier, the city of Colombo has introduced a new metro transport system. Designed in line with universal accessibility principles, this system ensures that mobility is no longer a privilege. It has step-free access, dedicated elevators and level platform boarding, dual audio-visual system, low-height ticketing counters, accessible restrooms in main bus stands, dedicated wheelchair anchor points, and dedicated support staff. which ensure that every journey is inclusive, safe and dignified. It has demonstrated that when infrastructure is designed for the most vulnerable, it becomes safer and more efficient for everyone, including senior citizens, pregnant women and parents with toddlers and children with special needs. Physical mobility, however, must be paired with destination access. Therefore, ensuring barrier-free access to all public buildings and public services is not only a legal requirement, but also our social responsibility. Honorable mayors, sustainable development goals, which we all have endorsed talk about sustainable cities and communities with safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable transport systems and public spaces. An accessible city is a resilient, prosperous and humane city. Our objective is simple, a city that leaves no one behind, a city that belongs to and has equal opportunities to everyone. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much for that presentation from Colombo. We now give the opportunity to Helsinki.

Thank you. Good morning to everyone. My name is Marit Viaron and I'm the Deputy Mayor of City of Helsinki, Finland. First of all, I would like to thank the Chair and all colleagues for their valuable contribution and for such an engaging discussion. Helsinki was a pioneer, committing in 2018 to report to the UN on the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, becoming the first city in Europe and second in the world to do so. This shows how important we in Helsinki see sustainable future. Sustainable urban mobility is about more than transport policy. It's all about the kind of city we want to live in. From Helsinki's perspective, sustainable mobility is above all about creating a well-functioning city. High quality public transport, safe walking and cycling, and a transport system in which different modes of transport complete one another. Safety is a key starting point. In Helsinki, we pay particular attention to vehicle speeds, the safety of intersections and street environments, and ensuring that children, older people and people with reduced mobility can move around the city independently. I'm happy to say that in Helsinki, the traffic fatalities has fallen by approximately 80% compared with the early 80s. Sustainable transport is also closely linked to how we plan and build our cities. And Helsinki has invested in high quality public spaces and safe cycling and walking routes. In Helsinki, we are reducing transport emissions and ensuring that public transport and other more sustainable modes of transport remain attractive. We are also promoting the electrification of road transport and developing of charging infrastructure. However, Helsinki cannot achieve these goals alone. Strong cooperation is needed across the entire metropolitan area throughout Finland and with cities across Europe. SDG 11.2 gives us a clear objective. Transport systems must be safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable for everyone. From Helsinki's perspective, this is not merely a goal for the future. It is work that we must carry out every single day. Thank you.

Thank you, Helsinki. I would now like to give the floor to Tallinn.

Dear colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, thank you. I'm the Deputy Mayor of Tallinn, capital of Estonia. For Tallinn, mobility is about much more than just transportation. It's about opportunities, inclusion, safety and resilience. Our goal is to build a city where sustainable mobility is the easiest choice for everyone. First, mobility must be accessible and affordable. For that reason, Tallinn has a free public transportation for its residents and school children from other cities and also the people over 65 years. Almost all buses and trams are accessible to people with reduced mobility, and that's an important issue for us. We are investing in new connections, battery trolley buses, and even night buses. We are expanding park and ride services with neighboring municipalities to reduce car usage. At the same time, we are redesigning the streets to make walking and cycling safer. Through our Safe School Road program, we are improving traffic conditions around schools for nearly a quarter of Tallinn students. Because a city where citizens and children can move safely is independently a better city for everyone. Secondly, we must plan not only today, but also the future. We don't know how people will travel in 2050, but we have to remain the choices possible. And when it comes to cooperation with other cities and regions, Tallinn is working closely with our dear friend Helsinki, and we are planning to have also a more than 70-kilometer tunnel under the water to connect them to capitals. And of course, thirdly, sustainable mobility is a matter of resilience and security. For that reason, we keep it in very focus of our policies. Thank you.

Thank you very much, city of Tallinn. Now we move on to the city of Riyadh.

I'm the deputy mayor of Riyadh region.

If you allow me, I'll speak in Arabic.

Salaam alaikum.

Peace be upon you, ladies and gentlemen. We came from the airport of Riyadh, which was attacked by the Houthi militias, which led to the death and injury of some civilians and also damage to our infrastructure. This airport receives 40 million visitors annually. Our vision for 2030 provides that it will be one of the biggest airport worldwide. This airport will host Expo 2030. We started constructing this area. We will also host one of the biggest football stadium for 2034. We will also include the King Abdulaziz Park, one of the biggest parks nearby this airport. This is the gate to Riyadh. The area of Riyadh is 5,000 square kilometers, working to be one of the most sustainable cities all over the world. This city which hosts the biggest mobility network with mega projects for environmental sustainability and improving standards of living. One of the examples is a Daraya project, Riyadh network, Al-Ghadeia project, among many other projects. this promotes health care, quality of life, environmental sustainability, and also this provides new economic opportunities. This effort reflects a comprehensive vision, placing people at the center of this vision, and it also reflects our commitment to sustainable housing, improving health care and prosperity, and promoting economic health, and also preserving cultural heritage to build more sustainable communities. Thank you very much. Interpreters note that the speed of delivery did not allow for accurate interpretation. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Riyad. I will now call the city of Wurzburg.

Thank you so much.

So I'm the mayor of Wurzburg, a city in Bavaria, Germany, you can say in the heart of Europe. In my hometown, Wurzburg, around 21% of journeys are made by public transport. In 2025, we recorded 35.4 million passenger trips. So that was 8.5% more than the year before. And this was another increase in a three years term. Our tram program is central for this progress.

And we know this internationally, that communities that invest in tram transportations.

Lure more people from using their own cars into using public transport. We have ordered new low floor trams and are preparing new line connections into the university campus and also another network to the university hospital in one of our 13 city districts. These connections will make education and healthcare easier to reach without a car. The low-floor vehicles will help people with limited mobility to travel independently. Safe routes to the stops are equally important so that people can use the service with confidence. We know that everyday connection needs.

A really good city tact, so a good, frequent combination of trams, but for that.

We need some financial support, and this is why I welcome the draft's.

Priority for public transport and integrated land using planning, and I would like this forum.

To strengthen the case for funding arrangements that last across budget cycles and cover both the construction and the operation.

Cities must be able to plan and transport networks with confidence.

Thank you so much.

Thank you very much for that intervention. The next city that we'll give the chance is Vinnytsia.

Serhii Murhunov, Mayor of Vinnytsia, Ukraine. I support all the presentations of my colleagues when speaking about Vinnytsia. We also develop the electrical transport. It's really important issue for Ukraine. So just to create the without barrier routes from one stop to the other one, and also to develop the rolling stock in our city. So, sustainable mobility ensures accessibility, reduces emissions, contributes to a high quality of urban life. Electric transport must be supported by backup power supplies, distributed generation and energy storage systems. Routes must be taken to account access to hospitals, shelters and other critical important facilities. So the main challenge, it's not only about Vinnitsa, but in general Ukraine, so in peace time, sustainable mobility. ensures real accessibility and also the high quality of urban life. During wartime, it becomes part of the civil protection system. Even during attacks on energy infrastructure, public transport must continue to carry healthcare workers, critical service personnel, veterans, internally displaced families, and people in need of assistance. That's why a resilient transport system must therefore be designed in a comprehensive and integrated manner. Electric transport must be supported by backup power supplies, distributed generation, energy storage systems. Routes must be taken into account access to hospital, shelters and other critically important facilities.

I now move to the city and apologies for my pronunciation of Kosice.

Good day to everybody and hello from Kosice and to all cities who are seeking development of cities to more livable cities.

We as a city have really good developed public.

Transport and we are promoting also our tram network as a backbone for the public transport in Slovakia and in Kosice in general. We are also running pilots when it comes to time to slow down on crossroads, when it comes to safer school streets, or when it comes to public transport prioritization. We are promoting cycling infrastructure and pedestrian infrastructure. We are promoting people-friendly movement around the city. All above is dependent not only from our political will or local financing. It is also dependent on the tools cities have from national level to be able to implement it actively and with results. This we have to seek through cooperation and international examples to promote the frameworks for the cities. As it was mentioned, we are the frontline workers in these actions. And I hope that through this international cooperation, we can move forward not only in cities in Slovakia, but all around the world.

Thank you. Thank you, Cassius. I now call on the city of Reguengos de Monsaraz. Reguengos de Monsaraz, and my apologies again.

Yes, it's me. Hello. Reguengos de Monsaraz. My name is Marta, Marta Prates. I'm the mayor of Reguengos de Monsaraz, a small rural place in Portugal. And I would like to thank you very much for this opportunity to be here and be heard as a small place in a small country. It is a pleasure to share the experience of my city, a small rural municipality in the southern of Portugal with around 10,000 inhabitants. 40 localities in the territory of approximately 400 square kilometers. In our municipalities, sustainable mobility is not only an environment priority. It is also a question of social justice, equal opportunities, accessibility and territorial cohesion. In rural areas, mobility presents particular challenges. Our population is aging, Distance between communities are significant and access to public transport is often limited. For many people, especially older citizens, people with disabilities and families with fewer economic resources, mobility can determine whether they can access healthcare, education, employment or simply participate in community life. That is why we believe sustainable mobility must put people at the center of public policies. In Reguengos de Monsaraz, we have been developing three important initiatives. First, our ecobus. We have introduced a completely free urban public transport service operating 12 hours a day. connecting residential areas with schools, the health center, shops, local business, public service, and other essential destinations. By making this service free of charge, we are reducing transport costs for families, supporting older citizens, promoting social inclusion, and providing a practical alternative to private cars. Our principle is simple, mobility should be a right, not a privilege. Second, our pedestrian mobility project. We are developing kilometers of pedestrian routes connecting different areas of our town and creating safer, more comfortable spaces for walking. Third, accessibility for everyone. Through our accessibility initiatives, we are working to remove architectural barriers improve public spaces and create safer conditions for people with disabilities, reduced mobility, older citizens and families with young children. Because a sustainable community cannot be truly sustainable if some of its citizens cannot move freely and independently. But I would also like to finish to highlight an important challenge for international and national policies mark makers. Solutions designed for large cities cannot simply be replicated in small rural municipalities. Our territories have different characteristics, different resources and different needs. In low density areas, sustainable mobility requires flexible solution, public investment and policies adapted to local realities. We must ensure that the green transition does not create new inequalities between between urban and rural territory territories because uh sustainable mobility is about giving everyone the freedom the freedom to participate fully in society regard regardless or of where they live thank you.

Thank you very much for that input from is a small city, but nevertheless very useful to be part of this forum of mayors, to be able to make a contribution. I give the next chance to Bilbao.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I am Juan Maria Urtu, the mayor of Bilbao in the Basque Country in the Spanish state. In Bilbao, we have learned that sustainable mobility is not simply about moving people from one place to another. It is about creating a city where everyone can move safely, independently, and with dignity. In 2020, Bilbao became the first European city of more than 300,000 inhabitants to establish a citywide speed limit of 30 kilometers per hour. This decision was not only a traffic measure. It was a public health and quality of life policy, combined with traffic calming interventions, it contributed to a 39. percent reduction in pedestrians injured in traffic accidents and was recognized with the European Urban Road Safety Award. But safety must go hand in hand with accessibility. Today, 65 percent of our journeys within Bilbao are made on foot. Pedestrian zones, green corridors, public lifts, and our Metro Minuto initiative help residents reach essential services quickly. even in a city with challenging topography and an aging population. We also understand that mobility is experienced differently by different people.

So, through our Gender Action Plan, women.

Traveling alone at night can request immediate bus stops closer to their destination, improving both real and perceived safety.

Our lesson is simple.

Mobility policies are most successful when they put people first. Safer streets, accessible public spaces, and smart use of data create cities that are not only more sustainable, but also more inclusive and human. Thank you so much.

Thank you very much for your intervention. We now move on to the city of Sarajevo.

Thank you. I'm Mayor of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. My name is Amir Avdic. Chair, Excellencies, distinguished colleagues, for Sarajevo, sustainable mobility is not simply a transport policy.

It is closely connected to public health, environmental quality, and the way we want our city to develop in the coming decades.

Our geography makes this particularly important. Sarajevo is located in a valley where air pollution can become a serious challenge, especially during the winter months. Transport is not a part of that problem, and reducing dependence on private cars is therefore an important part of the solution. We are working towards a more balanced mobility system by improving public transport, creating better conditions for walking and cycling, strengthening the road safety and making different forms of mobility easier to combine. At the same time, we are increasingly using data and digital tools to better understand how people move through the city, where infrastructure is inadequate and where investment can have the greatest impact.

One of the lessons.

We are learning is the infrastructure alone is not enough. Sustainable mobility also depends on everyday habits and on public confidence that walking, cycling, and public transport are safe, practical, and reliable choice.

Our ambition.

Is to create a healthier city in which sustainable mobility becomes a natural part of everyday life.

Thank you.

Thank you very much. We now move to Andorra and the city of Encamp.

Good morning. My name is Laura Mas and I am from Encamp in Andorra and I'd like to share with you our Uclick, which is an on-demand public transport. system. It's based on two key principles: territorial cohesion and equal opportunities. Encamp is a mountainous territory with unique aspects and restrictions that come with that. Our territory has several residential areas, complex orography and two main populated areas, Encamp and Pas de la Casa, and they're separated by a mountain pass. Also, in winter we often have difficult weather conditions such and snow, these can significantly complicate movement and in this respect we set a goal to guarantee mobility for our citizens ensuring that it's not, it doesn't have to be based on having a private vehicle, a personal vehicle. Thus was born U-Clic, our on-demand public transport service. It's made-up of light vehicles and it's adapted in particular to our territory namely narrow streets and steep hills. We have 56 stops and UCLIP enables us to link together residential areas that are far away from the parish as well as with schools, sports facilities and other services as well as national transport lines. We're seeing over 50,000 journeys journeys per year and it's in particular a local mobility service that's good for the elderly, young people and those who don't have a vehicle. It's very simple, you use an application to reserve a journey and the entire system is organized around the requests. The goal is to provide a flexible service that's adapted to users needs. In Pas de la Casa then, winter conditions can be significantly harsher and so we have added a service that's free relating to urban and school transport and so we're there responded to an important issue relating to road safety, providing an alternative to having a personal vehicle and reducing the number of vehicles on the road at the same time, namely around schools and urban areas with the greatest footfall. We'd now like to move further, guaranteeing the transition towards sustainable mobility that respects the environment, namely adding electric vehicles to our fleet. Mountainous areas are facing significant restrictions. We can't, therefore, implement standardized solutions and therefore we must consider and adapt to the realities on the ground and the realities of our population. In EnCamp, sustainable mobility is not just an environmental task, it's also a tool for social cohesion, accessibility and territorial equality. Thank you.

Great, thank you very much from EnCamp. We move now to Dunkerque.

Good afternoon. I'm the mayor of Dunkirk in the north of France, and I'd like to echo the statement made by Talon because we've also implemented free transport for all. Dunkirk was a city completely destroyed in the Second World War and at the start of the century, cars were the dominant form of transport. As a result, we saw many issues, especially environmental issues and the impact Towards climate change, there was an impact on purchasing power, given the, for example, increase in fuel prices. We also note that in a city made for cars, when you don't have one, it can be difficult to get to work. In 2018, then, we adopted a radical break with that, and we implemented free public transport for all. Now, eight years on, After the implementation of that free transport, we have seen impressive results. We've tripled the use of collective public transport, and we've also completely changed the culture of mobility. Thousands of public transport services, for example. We also have seen 30% increase in this, especially by young people in the center of the city, and we've able to reduce by a third the number of car parking spaces in the city and we've been able to replace them with for example housing and we've also helped um the elder older persons who are now using increasingly um public transport we also note that we're a city of 200,000 people and so Solutions are very important. We are looking at free public transport, and we encourage all of you to do that too, which can radically change mobility. Thank you.

Thank you, Dunkirk. We now move to Edinburgh.

Thank you very much. I'm Jane Marr and I'm leader of the City of Edinburgh Council. Edinburgh is in Scotland, which is part of the United Kingdom. We in Edinburgh have very much in common with other cities across the whole world, so it's heartening in one sense to hear that we share similar problems, but it's disheartening because of course we need to seek solutions to those problems. I want to focus briefly on public transport and economic regeneration. We have an excellent bus system in Edinburgh, which is in public ownership. Edinburgh is an ancient city, in common with the many who are present today, and buses lead to increased congestion and air pollution. We are coming late to the game, but we are building a tram infrastructure. We have partly constructed that, which is extremely successful. It links to areas that are regenerating, where transport links are being built into the development of whole new parts of our growing, successful city. For example, the plans for one of the most deprived areas in our city include the possibility of a transport network that would connect that area with employment opportunities. However, and I'll finish on this, we cannot achieve this objective alone. I think it was the mayor of Helsinki who said that we cannot do this alone and we collectively need to continue to put pressure on our national and local governments to see how important accessible transport is. Thank you.

Thank you very much for that presentation from Edinburgh. Now we move on to Makassar.

Thank you. Good morning, everyone. I am Munafri Arifuddin, mayor of Makassar City, Indonesia. maybe uh one of the city with the best sunset in the world I'm fully agree with uh Mr. Jen to statement this morning traffic education is very important to be incorporate into the school curriculum so that students become aware of and understand how to drive safely, both for themselves and for the other people. Traffic safety education emphasize to share responsibility to make students learn to anticipate what risk they may get on the roads, avoid distraction such as using smartphone or hand phone, and practice safe behavior near roadways. We want to prepare the future drivers as early as possible, so they know the concept of safe speed, speed limitation and also how to choose low carbon transportation options. and I firmly believe that this concept needs to be implemented internationally to help create sustainability, mobility and the road safety in all cities in the world. Thank you.

Thank you, Makasar. We now move to the city of Cork.

Thank you, Chair and colleagues. My name is Damian Boylan. I'm the Lord Mayor of Cork City in Ireland. The impacts of climate change are no longer distant or theoretical. They are affecting the health and well-being of our communities through extreme weather events, worsening air quality, pressures on mental health, and growing inequalities. As political leaders, we have a responsibility to respond with urgency and ambition, but with practical solutions as well. And nowhere is that responsibility more important than in our cities and sustainable mobility is the most vital component of all of these solutions. Cities are on the front line. They are where people live, work, raise their families and grow old. They are also where many of the solutions can be delivered. Take my own city, for example, identified by Government to be Ireland's fastest growing city over the next two decades. We have published plans for a new transformational light rail system and a new commuter rail system, both of which have been guaranteed funding by central Government. We are building new homes, including what will be Ireland's tallest residential building in our city centre, creating true 15-minute neighborhoods. Our Docklands region is one of the largest brownfield regeneration sites in Ireland. Design proposals for the area aim to contribute to net zero targets for a climate-neutral and sustainable city and economy, and providing cycling and walking infrastructure is part of its core design. Across our city, we are building cycling and walking infrastructure to enable our citizens to access all areas by walking, cycling and public transport. We are currently in the process of lowering metropolitan speed limits to 30 kilometres an hour. Cork City is also an EU Mission City, part of a network of 100 cities on a journey to become climate neutral and smart cities. Cork Docklands is positioned to be Cork's landmark project, providing an opportunity to deliver on this Mission Cities agenda at scale. If we are serious about tackling climate change, we must be equally serious about building sustainable, resilient and healthy cities where sustainable transport options are available to all. Local government has a critical role to play. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Clark. We now move to Comhairle Sheinann.

Hello. Good afternoon. My name is from municipality, Cambodia. It's my great pleasure to speak today about the road safety in. An important issue directly related to life, health, and well-being for our citizens. At the municipality level, we can work closely with relevant authority to improve road infrastructure, traffic sign, and traffic management. We should also certain road safety education, particularly for young people and student. In Kampung Jenang municipality decide to build road safety education path. I believe that establishing road safety education park in Kampung Chenang would be a valuable initiative. Such a park would provide children and students with practical opportunity to learn traffic rule, recognize road sign, and also develop safety road use habit from an early age. Anyway, financial challenge is still the main problem for small city to implement to those safety project. Lady and gentlemen, road safety is not responsibility of the authority alone. It require a participation and commitment of every citizen. By working together, we can reduce road accident and build a safer, more sustainable and more livelihood city. Thank you.

Thank you very much for that intervention. We now move to Shymkent.

Good afternoon.

My name is Arman Sabitov, and I am the deputy mayor of the city of Shymkent, Republic of Kazakhstan. I will be speaking in Russian.

Distinguished Chair, colleagues, the city of Singen continues to actively develop transport systems, given an increase in our population. At the moment, in our city, we have more than 1,300,000 people, so ensuring effective and safe mobility is one of our key issues in our city's policies. Today, public transport in our city operates on 80 main routes and we have over 1000 buses in operation daily. All of these have GPS trackers which enables us to deal with issues and traffic. Buses use methane and we are looking at updating fleet while ensuring passenger comfort and dealing with the environmental aspects. Shymkent has introduced an intellectual system which now covers an analysis of transport flows in real time and enables more effective regular movement. We also have a priority system for emergency vehicles and we have trackers integrated into our system. This helps our emergency systems and it relates to the traffic light system in the city too. Public transport is free for school children, older persons, pensioners over 70 years, as well as persons with disabilities. and other groups. The next step then is to move towards a unified system for city mobility with respect to our public transport and the intellectual smart system. We will of course be looking in particular at the safety aspect of this future system. Thank you.

Thank you, Shim Kent. And we now move to Quintin Normand.

Good afternoon.

I am the mayor of Quinta Normal and I will speak in Spanish. First of all, I should like to thank you for your invitation to take part in this very important forum. For us in Quinta Normal, we are a commune near Santiago and this dialogue is important for us, dialogue on sustainable mobility. We are a city that seeks to ensure the dignity of our residents. We have free buses for our community. That's because we are not responsible for our public transport, that falls under the purview of the national government. However, I'd like to note the importance of inclusive societies. It's very important for us to have such public policies that go beyond public transport and electric transport. We do indeed promote electric mobility, but it goes further because the state needs to treat citizens in the same way, no matter where they come from. I'm the mayor of Quinta Normal, and we see certain inequalities across Chile as well in the metropolitan area. We are seeking, therefore, to regenerate certain areas. In Quinta Normal, there are businesses who have left the city. we've also we've implemented a pilot plan to try and bring back or enable these businesses to come back. Those that have left and we'd like to again offer dignity to citizens by drawing up social housing with facilities nearby with respect to health and education. Therefore in our area we insisting on the fact that the city must ensure good living conditions and dignity for citizens. Thank you.

We move on now to the city of Nashik.

Namaste to the chairs, excellencies, mayors, and distinguished guests. Sustainability has three major pillars. The social sustainability which focuses on people, environmental sustainability which focuses on planet, and economical sustainability leading to the prosperity. I, Himgauri Ahir Adge, Mayor of Nashik, come from the city of Kumbh Mela, one of the world's most profound symbols of collective human consciousness. rightfully inscribed in UNESCO intangible heritage of humanity. For mobility and road safety during Kumbh Mela and otherwise as a growing developing city, we have designed a traffic park for more than 10 years which has a one-of-a-kind project design which has been able to educate children and students for more than 10 years. It is a CSR initiative where we have a public-private partnership wherein we provide the land and the Mahindra group of companies has taken the initiative to run the park and the children get it for free. The transport rules, the limitations of speed, and the changing rules, if any. It's a MOU which is signed with the municipal corporation. We also have the Cyclist Association, which travel and create the IEC activities, stating how health is important. And also, they are one of the Commonwealth champions as well. We also create awareness programs through these cyclists, which are in Nashik city. We operate our public transport under the name of CityLink buses, which is a state of art service with digital gateway available with recent addition of EV buses and more to come, considering the pollution and the environmental challenges. We are a city with almost 22 villages in the periphery and we have to reach out to them as well as provide transport facility to the outskirts. So we not only operate in the city, we operate 20 kilometers in the radius around to so that the employability and the employees available around the city, the labor can come to the city for working. We are also closely working with the ITDP for creating safe school zones. Also have got approval for the comprehensive mobility plan, the Maha Metro, and have got plans to start the Metro soon, during and later. For the comprehensive mobility plan, we have the plans till 2056. And with the road safety and sustainability goals, we also have to manage almost more than 12 crores pilgrims that would be visiting next year to Nashik for the holy Kumbh Mela. Thank you.

Thank you, Nashik. We now move to Saida.

Good morning, everyone.

My name is Mustafa Hijazi, and I'm the mayor of the city of Saida from Lebanon. and also the president of the Union of Federation of Saida Zaharani.

Distinguished colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, in Saida, a 6,000-year-old Mediterranean city in southern Lebanon, sustainable mobility is not simply about transportation. It is about safety, inclusion, economic recovery, and urban resilience. Our city faces serious challenges, aging infrastructure, traffic congestion, inadequate pedestrian facilities, and limited public transportation. Regional conflicts and waves of internal displacement have placed additional pressure on our infrastructure and municipal services, while Lebanon's prolonged economic crisis has severely limited our financial resources. Another major challenge is urban fragmentation. Saida is only about 900 meters wide, yet four major road corridors already cross the city. A fifth highway is now proposed, threatening further fragmentation Our municipal council has anonymously rejected this project and is advocating for an alternative route outside the city. We believe roads should connect communities, not divide them. As mayor of Saida and president of the Federation of Saida-Zaharani Municipalities, representing 16 municipalities, our priority is to develop an integrated, sustainable urban mobility plan for the entire Saida-Zaharani area. This plan should improve road safety, public transportation, pedestrian accessibility, and traffic management, while reconnecting our historic city to its waterfront and supporting economic development. But we cannot achieve this alone. We need technical assistance, reliable mobility data, and international financing. We invite UNECE and our international partners to support us in developing and implementing this regional mobility strategy. Our message is simple. Sustainable mobility is not about moving more cars. It is about connecting people, creating opportunities, and building safer, more inclusive, and resilient cities. Thank you.

Thank you, Saieda. We now move to Sibi Kotani.

Thank you very much. My name is Alioune Poui. I am the mayor of Seboukhotan, a city of almost 50,000 residents located in Dakar region. I am also a member of GPM, the Global Parliament of Mayors. But I will do my speech in French.

Thank you very much for this invitation. My area, Sebikotane, is an ancient rural community that became a commune. And we are connected to Dakar through various land routes. in particular and including to the airport. Our area is being urbanised every day and our population is increasing at a very rapid speed. As this is an ancient rural community, we have had difficulties with respect to mobility because in Senegal, in reality, transport policies remain under the purview of the central state. That's not yet been transferred to the communes. But how can the communes act? Through communication for three years or three years ago, we initiated a road regeneration program which were made of sand and the idea was to improve the roads and mobility for citizens we've seen significant results for example the regeneration of roads have increased the mobility or the movement of persons with reduced mobility who previously could not move or rather take journeys on sand roads, but now, for example, they can accommodate wheelchairs. We've also enabled previously isolated areas during extreme weather events like floods to see improved movement during those times. And we've as such enabled improvements in mobility for certain groups of people in our commune. In 18 neighborhoods, we have implemented these changes in eight of them. So we have 10 areas left. This is indeed a significant project, especially with respect to the resources that we have, and that's why we're participating in this forum to exchange and share experiences. We're not a big area like many of the others here today, but we're open to all forms of collaboration that might enable us to further develop our policies. relating to the improvement and development of our roads to improve the mobility of people and goods. Thank you.

Thank you very much for that. And we move on to the city of Piraeus.

Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Andriana Zaregeli. I'm the vice mayor of Piraeus, Greece. And it is with great honor to be here today and represent the municipality of Piraeus and our mayor, Mr. Moralis. Piraeus is Greece's largest port and one of the Mediterranean's major maritime getaways. For us, sustainable mobility is not simply an environmental priority, but a matter of quality, quality of life, accessibility, and road safety. Every day, our city must balance the needs of residents, commuters, tourists, freight transport, and thousands of passengers traveling through our port. Our challenge is clear. How can a global transport hub remain a safe, accessible, and livable city for the residents? The expansion of the metro and tram networks in our city represents significant progress for all of us. At the municipal level, I have to tell you that we operate free bus services for all citizens, improving accessibility and providing additional transport option for our residents. We are also installing environmental sensor on the buses, turning everyday public transport into a valuable source of environmental data. At the same time, the most comprehensive traffic study ever undertaken in our city in Piraeus is currently underway, helping us plan smarter, safer, and more efficient urban mobility. Uh, these initiatives for us reflect our commitment to innovation, evidence-based planning, and people, uh, centered, uh, urban, uh, development. For us, uh, our ambition is a period where economic development and environmental responsibility, and of course, quality of life for our people, uh, to be at the center. come together. A truly sustainable city for us is not a city where vehicles move faster, but one city where people move safely, freely and, of course, equally. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Pooas. We now move to Lithuanian and Spanish honours.

Dear colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, I'm a deputy mayor of district municipality, a rural area in Lithuania. Our district covers a large territory with a low population density. Therefore, our main challenges is to ensure safe, convenient, and accessible transport for all residents. We continuously invest in road safety pedestrian and cycling infrastructure, we are gradually transforming some urban streets into bicycle priority streets. Our example, this year, more than 10 kilometers of pedestrian and cycling infrastructure in one of my towns. Public transport in our district is free of charge, and we provide transportation for school children. We also offer social taxi and special transport services for senior citizens, people with disabilities, and those who need medical care. Our main challenges are long distance, low population density, and limited financial resources. For us, it's especially important that limited access to transport does not become a form of social exclusion, particularly for people living in remote and peripheral areas. We believe that sustainable mobility must be accessible not only in large cities, but also in rural areas. No one shall be left behind simply because of where they live. Thank you.

Thank you very much. We have taken all the interventions indicated from the participating cities, but we do have a bit of time permitting, so I would like to open up the floor to mayors and deputy mayors from other cities attending the meeting. Would anybody else like to make an intervention? We will also open it up to representatives of city administrations, member states, international organizations, academia and NGOs, if any of you want to make an intervention. Would you like to introduce yourself and come forward?

Thank you. My name is Patrick Toran. I'm president of Global Migration Policy Associates. I've been working on the intersections between migration, mobility, and cities for the last 50 years, starting in my hometown of Seattle. And I wanted particularly to pick up on the fourth question that our introductory speaker rose today, about the importance of looking at connections and connecting in terms of transportation and public transportation. One of the key challenges that we've been facing as we were doing work now with the UNESCO project on inclusive cities and looking at migration or immigration to cities is that on the one hand, we find that most cities have 20 to 30 to 50% of their populations are either migrants to the city, whether rural to urban, inner city within a country, from neighboring countries, or from elsewhere in the world. What we also find in particular is that most of the newcomers reside in relatively poor and what we could call isolated housing or areas of isolated housing, a long way from the jobs, the health care, the schooling, and other essential services that working adults and others need. At the same time, we contrast this with the word from most employers' organizations in Europe and elsewhere. I've heard it also in Bishkek, in Lagos, and elsewhere around the world, that up to 50% of the jobs employers have on offer cannot be filled by the people with the qualifications to do those jobs well. The challenge is in many cities today, large numbers of people, particularly recently arrived, are in areas where there are no transportation connections to the places, the industrial belts outside the cities, service centers and so on, where employers need workers and with the skills that may actually be there in the city. Our urgency in terms of a recommendation is the need for that connectivity to be has specifically addressed in terms of planning, but more specifically in terms, first of all, of mapping where are the people, where are the people with skills, and where are the jobs, where are the employers needing jobs that don't have easy connections to get the workers. Second, it's a question of surveying, and I appreciated the reference from Edinburgh about regeneration, because this isn't only a question for newer cities or cities with increasing immigrant population. It's also a question particularly important for cities that are redeveloping economically to make sure that there are transportation systems that know where the jobs are, know where the people are, and can project that for the next five or ten years. And I think the third point that I would just underline in terms of what to do, it's mapping, it's surveying and projecting, and it's then redirecting the planning and building of infrastructure. And again, to underline, most newcomers to cities, particularly in Southern countries, countries elsewhere in the world, and in many cases to cities in developed Europe and North America, don't necessarily have cars. And I don't think for planning purposes, cities want to say, okay, let's build roads so that people can all drive to work. Ain't gonna work. So I just underline the importance of the question and the fact that that needs to be a central part of planning, preparation, building, and operating public transportation systems. Thank you.

Thank you. We'll now go to the city of Sao Lourenco do Sul.

Good morning.

I am Zelmut Martin, mayor of Sao Lourenco do Sul in Brazil. In Brazil, we approved a new legal framework for national public transport at the National Congress. In Sao Lourenco do Sul, we are implementing a project, the Mobility Electric, in transporting, starting for the zoom free of charge via electric mobility is buses.

And taxis, creating a municipal app and acquiring electric bicycles for community health agents.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you very much. I think we'll bring it to a closer from the contributions from the mayors and other representatives for the time that we've had. It's very, very interesting and exciting to hear the various experiences that different mayors and different leaders have. But it's clear to us that road safety is a fundamental responsibility of urban leadership, who you are and who you represent. And therefore, we must continue to drive that forward. Additionally, sustainable mobility is an instrument of economic development, which is our transformation, which is what we have had in the various presentations that have been made here in different cities. And finally, we must be able to embrace partnerships. in terms of driving the various initiatives that we take to transform our cities to make sure that they are delivering and doing the right thing. So to close this discussion and provide reflections on our exchanges, it is now my pleasure to invite Mr. Giuseppe Tesoriero from the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa to deliver the closing remarks. Mr. Tesoriero, you have the floor.

Excellencies, distinguished mayors, colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the Economic Commission for Africa, let me begin by expressing my appreciation to all our colleagues and partners for organizing this important forum of mayors. My particular thanks to our moderator and co-moderator, for guiding this valuable discussion, and to all mayors and city representatives who have shared their perspective and experiences. If there is one message I would like to take from our exchange today is this: sustainable urban transport and road safety are not separated agenda. They are fundamentally connected to how we plan, develop, and manage our cities. We know well that a city is a system of connections between people and jobs, home and schools, neighborhoods and services, businesses and markets. When these connections are safe, affordable, and reliable, they can expand opportunity. When they are not, they can become barriers to participation and prosperity. This is particularly relevant for region and countries like Africa and Asia that are experiencing rapid urbanization economic transformation. This is why transport planning and urban planning need to be considered together. When affordable housing is far from employment, people face longer and more costly journeys. Where schools and health service are poorly connected, access become more difficult. And where urban expansion takes place alongside public transport, congestion and long commuting times can become increasingly difficult to address. This is another dimension that deserves our particular attention coming from our discussion today, road safety. The World Health Organization estimates that 1.6 million people die every year in road traffic crashes, while millions more suffer injuries, and more than 90% of road traffic deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries. These are not simple statistics. For millions of people, particularly those who walk, cycle or depend on public and shared transport, the design of street and public space can determine if a journey to work, school or essential service is safe. This underlines the importance of integrating safety into urban development from the outset. Safety is most effective when it is designed into the cities rather than addressed afterwards. Excellencies, distinguished mayors, let me conclude by highlighting four areas where our collective efforts could make a meaningful contribution. First, Keeping people at the center of urban planning, assuring that jobs, school, service, and opportunity can be reached safely and affordably. Second, integrating road safety into urban development. Considering safe speeds, crossing, walking, and cycling infrastructure and public transport as a fundamental element of urban investment. Third, Strengthening the connection between land use and transport planning whenever possible, ensure that the new urban development is planned alongside access to public transport and essential services. And fourth, translating dialogue into practical cooperation. I would encourage has to use this forum to strengthen city to city partnership, share solutions and experience that can be adapted to different contexts and explore opportunity with development partners to mobilize the finance and capacity required for implementation. These challenges are not complex, are very complex, sorry, and not city or institution can address them alone. They call for cooperation across level of government, across sector, and more importantly, across cities. Finally, let me recall with a key message. Sustainable urban transport is not about moving more vehicles. It's about enabling people to reach opportunities and service that make city work. And that is why the leadership, experience and cooperation of mayors today and tomorrow and the platform provided by this forum can make such an important contribution to build cities that are sustainable, inclusive, safe and resilient. Thank you, merci.

Thank you, Mr. Tassovea. With time coming to an end, I am about to conclude our discussion on sustainable mobility and road safety. However, it appears that, during the session, I missed out on the city of Toulouse. If the city of Toulouse still wants to make an intervention, it is able to do so. Is the city of Toulouse available?

Yes.

My apologies. Please make your intervention.

So I'm here on this side.

Thank you very much for inviting me for this seminar.

I would like to thank you.

In French, I'd just like to speak about how transport could be free, but it is not in Toulouse. 520,000 people live in Toulouse, everybody, I assume, flew here, chances are in an Airbus plane, and Airbus is built in Toulouse as well as satellites. As far as transport is concerned, we have committed much means to ensure that transport is as active and economically dynamic for the third largest town in France. Just very briefly, I wanted to say that we have tailored, for example, two things. On Thursday and Friday and Saturday. Transport runs until 3am because much happens during the night in our town, and it's very important that. our transport system be open from 5:20am to 3am. It's very important also that it be free for young people and students. It is. And in buses, to protect women during the evening and the night, we've ensured that buses can stop if a woman wants it to stop. As of 10pm, the bus will stop at their house or the place where they wish to stop, which is a way to protect Needless to say, transport must always be secure and safe, and that is something that absolutely needs to be borne in mind. I wanted to add that to the debate.

Thank you, Louise. As the representative of the city of Worcester, you also are your partners in Elbus, with We Build the Wings. but we have also no longer have the airfield because we are building housing on it. Thank you everyone. I'd just like to thank you all for your contributions and your participation. I believe this has been a very informative morning session and a great start to this sixth meeting of the UN former mayors. and we'll have many more discussions over the remainder of the time. I just wanted to make a few remarks about what comes next. We now have a lunch break before the afternoon session begins in this room at 3 p.m. sharp, with interesting discussions on innovation and creativity at the city level, followed by a WIPO City Award ceremony. From 6pm, our friends at Waipo will also generously host a cocktail reception. In the meantime, during this lunch break, please do not miss the side event taking place in room A. The event is titled Women Mayors: Empowering Urban Leadership for Sustainable Futures. Last year, it was one of the highlights of our conference. This UNICE organized event will begin at 1:15 p.m. along with a light lunch kindly offered by Local 2030 Coalition, which is available outside the room from now before the event begins. The secretariat has asked me to remind you that food and drinks should not be brought into the meeting room. I strongly encourage you all to attend this important side event will be moderated by Ms. Susana Mahura, the founder of the GWL Voices and former Foreign Minister of Argentina. I would also like to inform all mayors and deputy mayors that a delegates lounge will be available to you during the lunch break, with coffee and tea provided from 1pm to 3pm. The lounge is located on the first floor just to the left as you exit the conference hall from the upper level. As before, we always encourage mayors to talk to one another because we learn so much from talking to each other. So to thank you again for all the participation and I look forward to continue our discussions this afternoon. And just to remind you, I do kindly invite you all to be back in the room promptly by 3:00 p.m. so that we can resume our discussions without a delay and cover the full and so interesting agenda we have for you this afternoon, following on from what has already been a full and interesting agenda. Thank you all very much. Thank you. Thank you.