An alliance of global city voices, of which Eurocities is a part, has shared an open letter claiming that the post-COVID 19 recovery cannot lead to a return to ‘normal’.
“‘Normal’ wasn’t working for our people – or the planet,” the letter states, which is also signed by the Global parliament of Mayors and was an initiative of the Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance.
The letter’s signatories call for a radical rethink in coronavirus response measures so that cities are not only able to withstand a similar crisis in the future but rise above, survive, and thrive far into the future.
“We can’t keep putting the public in harm’s way”
The letter makes clear that the networks share a concern that our current social, economic and environmental systems are not sustainable.
The signatories call for an economy that’s not only resilient, and able to bounce back from a crisis, but is adaptive, and able to shift and accommodate, not crumble, when disruption happens.
Specifically, the letter includes the following five requests:
- Adopt sustainability risk disclosures and establish sustainability standards;
- Embed and integrate within stimulus funds a requirement to ensure inclusion, equity and social justice;
- Precondition stimulus funds on the upholding and strengthening of existing environmental protections and safeguards;
- Make regenerative practice and programmes a requirement of stimulus funding; and
- Build and transition to new systems, as part of this new funding cycle – prioritising food, energy, water, waste management, and transportation systems.
Read the full letter here: CNCA_Open_Letter_to_Global_Financial_Leaders
