COP 28 continues its discussions on sustainability and tackling the challenge of climate change. On Saturday, Mayor Claudia Lopez participated in two panels. The first one was the "Mayors Innovation Studio," an exclusive event for mayors, where innovative strategies were debated with world-class experts. The second panel was the "Walking and Cycling Investments in NDCs for Climate, Health, and Equity," which aimed to analyze effective policies, national investments, and financing mechanisms to unlock the full potential of active mobility in climate action plans.
In the "Mayors Innovation Studio," an event without an official broadcast, Mayor López presented the tools, mechanisms, and co-design approaches used by Bogotá. It was also a moment to inspire mayors to engage youth and residents by sharing real examples of how collaborative efforts have generated improved programs and policies.
The panel had the participation of 150 mayors from around the world. It was an opportunity for the mayor to share the main innovations developed in the city and emphasize the importance of multi-actor partnerships in the development of these projects. She also highlighted efforts to co-create urban policies for cyclist care and infrastructure, both supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies.
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For more details from the Mayor, visit:
Segundo día en la #Cop28 ! Hoy participamos en el panel ‘Walking and Cycling Investments in NDCs for Climate, Health and Equity’, donde les contaremos por qué Bogotá es la capital mundial de la bicicleta y lo que hicimos para redistribuir el espacio público en favor de los… pic.twitter.com/RkITVvuprv
— Claudia López Hernández (@ClaudiaLopez) December 2, 2023
In the afternoon, the Mayor was a panelist at the "Walking and Cycling Investments in NDCs for Climate, Health, and Equity," an academic event to discuss the comprehensive approach that seeks to promote walking and cycling inclusion in countries' climate plans to underscore their importance in the fight against climate change. The event explored effective policies and financing mechanisms to unlock the potential of global active mobility.
During her intervention, Mayor López highlighted the city's achievements in bicycle use and culture. "Bogotá is a large city, with 8 million people and in reality, a metropolitan region of almost 10 million people. We are proud to be the world capital of the bicycle, which has been a Colombian tradition because in Colombia, cycling and 'Los Escarabajos,' as our champions in this sport are known worldwide, are part of our culture," she emphasized.
The conversation revolved around emissions' reduction goals for 2030 and discussed how to act locally to promote active mobility. In this regard, examples like Bogotá serve as inspiration for other cities. "If we all want to achieve climate change goals and also the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the most important global objectives for humanity, at least from my perspective, the perfect intersection is decarbonization. Clean and decarbonized multimodal mobility is about inclusion, public health, equity, credibility, and, of course, sustainability," stated the Mayor.
According to Claudia López, achieving decarbonized mobility requires a combination of technologies, policies, and practices that encourage the use of more sustainable and clean transportation modes. "Decarbonized mobility is at the heart of the intersection of years and years of courses on climate change. If we want to choose the sector in which we can have the greatest, scalable, and most respected impact worldwide, let's focus on that," added the Mayor of Bogotá.
The event, co-organized by Despacio, the FIA Foundation, the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP), and the Alliance for Active Mobility and Health (PATH), gave each panelist the opportunity to answer questions from Sheila Watson, Deputy Director of the FIA Foundation and panel moderator.
In addition to Watson, the panel included Jill Warren, CEO of the European Cyclists' Federation; Heather Thompson, CEO of ITDP (Institute for Transportation and Development Policy); Bronwen Thornton, CEO of Walk21; Patricia Calderón, Executive Director of Despacio; Nicolas Peltier, Global Director of Transportation at the World Bank's Infrastructure Vice Presidency; Giuseppe Sala, Mayor of Milan (Italy); Sharon Dijksma, Mayor of Utrecht (Netherlands); Eduardo Enríquez, Deputy Minister of Transportation of Colombia; and Stephen O'Driscoll, representative of the European Investment Bank.
This Sunday, the Mayor will attend the "C40 Steering Committee," a private event without a broadcast. Later, she will participate in the roundtable meeting "Special Roundtable Meeting with the UN Secretary-General and Special Advisor Selwin Hart." Additionally, the Mayor will hold bilateral meetings with the mayors of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, and Copenhagen, Sophie Hæstorp Andersen.
