Opening Session Recording
Rapid urbanization in Asia and the Pacific calls for increased actions in climate-resilient urban development given the inordinate demands that it places on cities for improved planning, increased investments in infrastructure, efficient delivery of services, and constant innovation to leverage evolving opportunities.
The increasing climate and disaster risks further place a burden on cities, threaten their development gains, and impact on poor residents who are disproportionately exposed to these risks, compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic and other associated risks. It is then critical for governments and other stakeholders to factor climate and disaster risk considerations in development interventions and build resilience particularly for the urban poor who are in precarious conditions that exacerbate vulnerability to climate and disaster risks such as extreme heat, flooding, and sea-level rise.
Resilience-building interventions will be complemented by actions at different scales – household, community, and city government – and designed and implemented in close partnership with local governments and community-based organizations, supported by data and information reflecting ground realities, improved governance, and finance including climate finance.
In this context, the Asian Development Bank is organizing Resilience for the Urban Poor Forum (RUP2021) as part of the Regional Technical Assistance on Advancing Inclusive and Resilient Urban Development Targeted at the Urban Poor being supported by Urban Climate Change Resilience Trust Fund financed by the Rockefeller Foundation and the Governments of Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
The RUP2021 aimed to increase awareness on climate and disaster risk-related issues and challenges faced by the urban poor and identify opportunities for scaling up pro-poor policies and investments to strengthen their resilience. It will bring together experts and representatives from national governments, cities, development partners, and civil society organizations, including community-based organizations. This thirty-minute opening session will provide an overview of the event theme and the three-day event and set the tone for the ensuing session discussions.