Committed to Sustainable Cities and Human Settlements for All
In Special Consultative Status with ECOSOC
The
20th Annual Session of Global Forum on Human Settlements &
New Sustainable Cities and Human Settlements Awards Ceremony (GFHS 2025)
Theme:
Advance Local Innovation and Collaboration
for a Resilient and Sustainable Urban Future
4-5 November 2025
World Meteorological Organization Headquarters
Geneva, Switzerland
CONTEXT
We are collectively
confronted with a world fraught with multiple challenges and enormous
uncertainties: climate crisis, environmental degradation, economic downturn,
rising unilateralism, geopolitical conflicts, and weakening social cohesion. Among them, the climate crisis is the greatest
threat faced by human society in the 21st century.
According to WMO’s State of the Global
Climate report, 2024 was likely the first calendar year to be
more than 1.5°C above the pre-industrial era, and it is the
warmest year in the 175-year observational record. “While
a single year above 1.5 °C of warming does not
indicate that the long-term temperature goals of the Paris Agreement are out of
reach, it is a wake-up call that we are increasing the risks to our lives,
economies and to the planet,” said WMO
Secretary-General Celeste Saulo.
On this urban planet, cities
and urban areas are the places where the greatest progress can be made to
resolve these issues, and rescue the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Paris
Agreement, while serving as the pivotal arena for enhancing human well-being,
safeguarding planetary health, and fostering lasting prosperity.
The new scientific and
technological revolution represented by new energy sources, AI, and robots is
in the ascendant, which will be rapidly reshaping our economy, society, life
style and cities. The innovations are arriving faster, more comprehensively and
more vigorously than ever before. It drives productivity and efficiency across
all sectors, and empowers us to discover new and improved ways and strategies
to grapple with the challenges we are facing. As indicated in the Pact
for the Future adopted at the UN Summit
of the Future, “Advances in knowledge, science, technology and
innovation could deliver a breakthrough to a better and more sustainable future
for all”.
Innovation starts generally
locally and can fuel greater efficiency, lower costs, and better quality of
life for all, through replication, acceleration, and scaling. Forward-looking
local governments and city leaders are uniquely positioned to harness the power
of innovation, deepen and expand collaboration with all relevant stakeholders,
thereby advancing livability, resilience, prosperity and sustainability in cities
and communities.
However, the rise of
unilateralism is undermining the existing international order, and poses a huge
threat to the achievement of the SDGs and carbon neutrality. This calls for a
greater urgency to strengthen international cooperation including at the local
level, to bridge local ingenuity with global
knowledge, establish sustained and effective muti-stakeholder
partnerships, and catalyze large-scale local innovation and proactive
actions, thus empowering cities to thrive amid uncertainty and ensuring they
are not only sustainable but also adaptable, inclusive,
and future-ready.
As a 501(c)(3)
tax-exemption public charity based in New York and granted the Special
Consultative Status with ECOSOC since 2015, Global Forum on Human Settlements
(GFHS) is committed to advancing sustainable cities and human settlements for
all, while serving as a world platform for high-level dialogue and cooperation.
With the stronger support from UN agencies and strategic partners at the local
and global level, GFHS has been successfully convening its annual forums at the
United Nations headquarters and on five continents for 19 consecutive years,
contributing to the promotion of the UN Habitat Agenda, MDGs, SDGs, Paris
Agreement and the New Urban Agenda.
Against this critical
backdrop, the 20th Annual Session of Global Forum on
Human Settlements and New
Sustainable Cities and Human Settlements Awards Ceremony (GFHS 2025), recognized as one of the world's most important
conferences dedicated to sustainable cities and human settlements, will be taking
place at the headquarters of the World Meteorological
Organization (WMO) in Geneva, Switzerland, on November 4-5, 2025. The theme
is “Advance Local Innovation and Collaboration for a Resilient and
Sustainable Urban Future”, and a series of events will be held to celebrate
GFHS’s 20th Anniversary.
Building on the longstanding
partnerships with WMO and other authoritative international institutions, GFHS
2025 will serve as another significant opportunity to strengthen cooperation with
WMO and relevant important partners, so as to build consensus for achieving
climate goals, enhance partnerships, and jointly drive innovation and
cooperation for a resilient and sustainable urban future.
The Forum will engage 300+
delegates representing 40+ countries through collaborative and productive
dialogue and deliberation on pressing issues of urban transformation and development,
technology, environment, and financing, notably through the lenses of and needs
for innovation and collaboration. GFHS 2025 is expected to put forward a series
of recommendations and consensus, deliver a declaration, and further contribute
to the upcoming 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) in
Brazil.
CONTENT
I. Time:
4-5 November 2025
II. Venue:
WMO Headquarters
III. Theme:
Advance Local Innovation and Collaboration for a Resilient and Sustainable
Urban Future
IV.
Modality: Opening ceremony, keynote speech, high-level
dialogue, mayors panel, parallel sessions, conclusion and recommendation, reception,
New SCAHSA grand ceremony, closed-door consultation, etc.
V. Institutional Framework
(tbc)
Co-organizers
Global Forum on
Human Settlements (GFHS)
World
Meteorological Organization (WMO)
United Nations
Centre for Regional Development (UNCRD)
International
Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
International
Society of City and Regional Planners (ISOCARP)
In
Collaboration With
United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP)
United Nations
Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR)
United Nations
Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP)
Global Human
Settlements Foundation (GHSF)
European
Committee of the Regions (CoR), European Union
World Wildlife
Fund (WWF) Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI)
International
Ocean Institute (IOI) World Ocean
Council (WOC)
International
Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD)
Urban Land
Institute (ULI) German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB)
Global
Buildings Performance Network (GBPN) Global
Cities Hub (GCH)
The Nature
Conservancy (TNC) Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) ENERGIES 2050
World
Association of Non-Governmental Organizations (WANGO)
Sub-Committee
on Science and Technology Collaborative Innovation, Science and Technology
Committee, Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development (SCSTCI, STC, MoHURD)
(This list of
organizations is in no particular order)
VI. Objectives
1. To provide a
valuable global platform for high-level dialogues with major multi-stakeholders,
facilitating productive conversation, producing synergies, fostering innovation
and collaboration, building consensus and maximizing partnership value.
2. To share policy
recommendations and practical solutions to enhance safety, resilience,
inclusiveness, smartness and sustainability in diverse urban systems.
3. To invigorate
local innovation and leadership by recognizing and rewarding outstanding
examples, and to share successful experience, promote advanced technologies,
and drive breakthrough progress.
4. To promote
funding and financing for climate actions, stepping up sustainable development efforts
at the local level and supporting the delivery of the SDGs and the Paris
Agreement.
VII. Key topics
to be addressed (included but not limited to)
1.
Enhance international
collaboration at local level for SDGs acceleration
2.
Invigorate innovation and leadership towards
greener and smarter cities
3.
Increase climate resilience through integrated water resources management
4.
Integrated urban planning
for net-zero and thriving neighborhoods
5.
Future-proof cities and human settlements
6.
Towards circular and zero-waste cities
7.
Urban transformation and competition in AI era
8.
Financing for resilient and carbon-neutral cities
9.
Coastal cities as source and solution: shifting
the plastics pollution paradigm
10. Nature-based solutions
for livability and climate adaptation
VIII. Invited Delegates
GFHS 2025 is
expected to bring together 300+ participants representing 40+ countries, including
national government officials, ambassadors, United Nations officers, international
organization heads and senior representatives, mayors, business leaders,
well-known experts and scholars, practitioners in relevant industries, NGO and
youth leaders.
IX. Draft
Schedule