Seoul, 11 April 2015 – UN Under-Secretary-General and UN-Habitat Executive Director, Dr. Joan Clos, has emphasised that we will need cities to address some of the most pressing issues in international development in the post-2015 agenda, such as sustainability and climate change.

Dr. Clos made the comments at the plenary session, titled A World of Local Action: Anchoring sustainability in the Post-2015 Development Agenda at the ICLEI (Local Governments for Sustainability) World Congress in Seoul. “At Habitat III [the UN Conference on Housing and Urban Development in 2016] we will aim to convince national governments that they need cities to address important development issues,” said Dr. Clos.

He went on to stress the importance of empowering local authorities to enhance implementation and effectively drive development. During his visit, Dr. Clos met with Mr. Park Won-soon, the Mayor of the Seoul Metropolitan Government who presented him with honorary citizenship of his city.

At the ceremony, Mr. Park said that Seoul was ready to work with UN-Habitat to share its experience in transformation with other cities.