The U.S.-South Asia Mayoral Platform on Sustainable Cities was launched at the South Asia Clean Energy Forum in Jaipur on 22 October 2024, marking the beginning of a ground-breaking effort to link U.S. and South Asian cities for critical information exchange on sustainable urban development.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is supporting this energy and sustainability transition in the South Asian region through various regional and country initiatives. Aligned with these efforts, the U.S. – South Asia Mayoral Platform on Sustainable Cities, an initiative by ICLEI – Local Government for Sustainability, South Asia (ICLEI South Asia) in collaboration with USAID India and supported by ICLEI USA is being envisaged to promote the growth of urban sustainability and climate solutions through knowledge brokering and exchange of ideas between the cities in the United States of America (U.S.A.) and South Asia. The platform will catalyze the exchange of innovative approaches, technological advances as well as approaches to economic revitalization within cities.

Geographic Focus: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, U.S.A.

Vision
Empower cities through knowledge brokering and exchange of ideas to:

● Manage urban energy demand efficiently and adopt sustainable energy sources
● Endeavour towards adoption of clean, electric and emission free mobility
● Climate sensitive, sustainable and inclusive city and municipal infrastructure planning
● Harness nature based solutions for ecosystem and human well-being
● Adopt integrated and holistic water and waste management approaches
● Accelerate cities’ progress towards net zero goals
● Contribute to the realization of national climate and sustainable development targets

Mission
The U.S. – South Asia Mayoral Platform on Sustainable Cities is a platform for collaboration of cities in their transition to sustainable, low carbon and climate resilient solutions and will foster knowledge brokering and exchange of ideas. The platform aims to enhance awareness of current and future opportunities to accelerate the urban sustainability transition and to drive informed action at the city level.

It is uniquely positioned to convene gatherings of city mayors and decision makers from U.S. and South Asian cities.

Objectives

● Foster collaboration between U.S. and South Asian cities to share best practices on sustainable urban development
● Promote joint initiatives on sustainable energy transitions, climate sensitive city development, green infrastructure, holistic and circular waste management.
● Strengthen city-level partnerships to address areas such as clean water, waste management, circular economy, electric and zero emission mobility, and clean air.
● To facilitate exchange of good practices, innovative approaches and technical solutions for sustainable and climate compatible urban development among city leaders and decision makers of the U.S. and South Asian cities.
● To put into action formal cooperation frameworks or agreements (MoUs) to solidify collaboration efforts between cities in U.S. and South Asia
● To provide outreach and coordination assistance to participating cities to enable and support knowledge exchange and dissemination , follow-ups on city technical assistance and capacity enhancement requirements and identification of priorities for partner cities.
● To disseminate knowledge materials, key achievements and success stories, good practices, and learnings from the Platform regionally and globally.

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