Convener: Nicola Tollin

The urban National Determined Contributions (NDCs) community is a coalition ready to accelerate climate action before 2020 and beyond between civil society, the scientific community, the private sector and all levels of government, including cities and regions. The inclusion of urban related content in NDCs is encouraging given urbanization trends across the world. Are the most rapidly urbanizing regions of African and Asian address urban issues in their NDCs and to what extent? The results are especially encouraging for the future development of inclusive, resilient and sustainable cities, considering the fast urbanizing regions and expected future the urban growth. Furthermore the session will discuss the NDCs focus, whether is on adaptation or mitigation or generally more balanced. Moreover, one important related issue that this event will address is the integration of local and regional climate action into NDCs. The panelists/presenters will discuss how research can support the implementation of a minded NDC partnership in relation to urban adaptation under the overall umbrella of vertical integration . The topic is highly relevant for LDCs and SIDS. The last part of the session will consolidate the results and outcomes of the presentations and discussions into further research opportunities and gaps.