Here are the principles for a healthy, fair and sustainable restart: "No return to life as ever"
The mayors of the most influential cities in the world have stressed that the recovery from CoViD-19 "should not translate into a return to life as ever, as we live in a world that is experiencing an overheating of 3 ° C or more."
The cities that make up the C40 network presented a declaration containing the principles to shape the recovery from the crisis caused by the CoViD-19. The mayors intend to "exploit the recovery from the crisis caused by CoViD-19 to build a better, more sustainable and fairer society".
The principles were adopted at the first meeting of the C40 Global Mayors CoViD-19 recovery task force of the C40, with the support of the president, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. The representatives of many cities approved them, including Los Angeles, Athens, Austin, Barcelona, Bogota, Boston, Buenos Aires, Chicago, Copenhagen, Curitiba, Durban, Freetown, Hong Kong, Houston, Lima, Lisbon, London, Medellin, Melbourne , Mexico City, Milan, Montreal, New Orleans, New York, Oslo, Portland, Quezon City, Rotterdam, Salvador, Sao Paulo, San Francisco, Santiago, Seattle, Seoul, Sydney, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Vancouver.
Today's announcement comes after a series of videoconferencing meetings attended by more than 40 mayors, demonstrating the joint global commitment to overcome both the crisis caused by the coronavirus and that related to climate change.
The Declaration of Principles
The CoViD-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on cities around the world. It is not only a global health crisis, but also a social and economic crisis, the effects of which will be felt for many years. In many ways this also constitutes an urban phenomenon, which has its roots in the destruction of the environment and in the relationship between humanity and nature.
As mayors, we are committed to supporting the inhabitants of our cities and protecting their health, based on expert advice. As members of the group of cities in the C40 network, we are sharing what we have learned in recent months and the knowledge we have acquired in responding to other crises, in terms of public health, economics and the environment.
It is clear that the damage caused by CoViD-19 has not been fair. The most vulnerable and most disadvantaged are also the most affected by the health and economic consequences of CoViD-19. It also appears evident that the world was not fully prepared for this crisis, despite the lessons learned from SARS, MERS, Ebola and other recent health and climate emergencies. This represents, in part, a consequence of the weakening of international mechanisms and institutions built to ensure the peace and prosperity of all. In part, this is a consequence of the scarce attention paid to scientific knowledge.
We, as leaders of the main cities of the world, clearly state that we do not have to aspire to a return to "normalcy"; our goal is to exploit the recovery from the crisis caused by CoViD-19 to build a better, more sustainable, more resilient and fairer society. Therefore, our joint strategy to support the recovery of our cities and their inhabitants from CoViD-19 will be guided by the following principles:
• the recovery must not translate into a return to "everlasting life", as we live in a world that is experiencing overheating of 3 ° C or more;
• recovery must essentially be guided by respect for public health and scientific skills, in order to guarantee the safety of those who live in our cities;
• excellent public services, public investment and greater community resilience will be the most effective basis for recovery;
• the recovery must address equity issues brought to light by the impact of the crisis. For example, workers who work in roles that are now considered essential must have the right merit: they must be paid accordingly. And policies must support people living in informal settlements;
• recovery must improve the resilience of our cities and communities. Therefore, investment is needed to protect yourself from future threats, including the climate crisis, and to support people who suffer the impact of climate and health risks;
• climate action can help accelerate economic recovery and improve social equity through the use of new technologies and the creation of new sectors and jobs. These factors will determine wider benefits for residents, workers, students, businesses and visitors;
• we are committed to doing everything in our power and in the power of the governments of our cities to ensure that the recovery from CoViD-19 is healthy, fair and sustainable;
• we pledge to use our collective voice and our individual actions to ensure that national governments support both cities and the necessary investments in cities, in order to achieve an economic recovery that is healthy, fair and sustainable;
• we are committed to using our collective voice and our individual actions to ensure that international and regional institutions invest directly in cities, to support a healthy, fair and sustainable recovery.
