Date: Thursday, 21 May 2026
Time: 12:00 - 13:30 (UTC+4, Baku time)
Location: ONE UN Room A, UN Building - Baku, Azerbaijan
Virtual/livestream link: TBC
WUF13 ONE UN Side Event | Convened by UNEP Climate Security Mechanism
About the Event
Climate peace and security (CPS) frameworks have thus far largely ignored the specificities of urban environments. Rapid urbanisation compounds climate vulnerability by concentrating populations in informal, climate-exposed settlements, while climate stresses drive further urbanisation through rural push factors, together creating conditions that can exacerbate urban conflict. A series of consultations and dialogues co-hosted by the Climate Security Mechanism (CSM) at the UN, adelphi, and the Environmental Peacebuilding Association (EnPAX) began in August 2025 with the aim of developing a CSM Policy Brief to fill this conceptual gap. The CSM, comprising UNEP, UNDP, DPPA, and DPO, was established in 2018 and has supported on-the-ground activities in 16 countries and regions.
This side event will present the draft Urban Climate, Peace and Security Policy Brief and seek feedback from local authorities and city networks. Building on the UN-Habitat report Rising Temperatures, Rising Tensions: The Urban Climate-Conflict Nexus amid the Global Housing Crisis, the session will focus on urban-specific climate and security risks and the capacities of city authorities to prevent climate-related impacts from cascading into conflict. It will feature the authors of the Policy Brief to introduce its main ideas, solicit comments from urban practitioners, and explore pathways for further action.
The urban environment also offers solutions: environmental peacebuilding and urban nature-based programmes can build confidence and sustain peace. The UN’s community violence reduction programmes have demonstrated the UN’s potential role, and many localised bottom-up activities have fostered climate resilience while sustaining peace, with displaced and informal communities often playing a key role. Participants at WUF13 will contribute to a broader, longer consultation process, with the Policy Brief to be formally launched at the EnPAX annual meeting in June 2026.
If you have any questions or would like more information about the event, please contact estefania.rodriguezdelpuerto@un.org.
