By George M.O. Williams
November 17, 2024: The Mayor of Freetown, Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr OBE, was privileged to deliver the U20 Communique to the President of Brazil His Excellency Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
“I joined Mayor Eduardo Paes of Rio de Janeiro and Mayor Anne Hildago of Paris and the handing over of the Communique was witnessed by the President of Chile, His Excellency Gabriel Boric,” she said.
“This year’s Urban 20 (U20) Summit, convened by C40 Cities and UCLG on the eve of the G20 Summit has been groundbreaking! The presence of G20 President, President Lula and of President Boric at the final plenary was hugely encouraging for the mayors and city leaders of the 82 cities at the event. Both Presidents delivered strong messages recognising the critical role of cities in addressing the climate crisis and securing sustainable development for our residents.”
Another landmark moment was the signing of an MOU between C40 Cities and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). This signifies a commitment by IDB to work with C40 Cities to provide cities in Latin America and the Caribbean with direct access to finance for climate action.
Mayor Aki-Sawyerr said they look forward to other multilateral and regional banks making similar commitments to ensure that climate action could be financed at the local level where it is most urgently needed and effectively delivered.
After delivering a keynote at the Women’s Leadership Panel, Mayor Aki-Sawyerr had the honor of handing over to First Lady of Brazil Janja Lula de Silva, a C40 publication on Best Practices
for Cities on Food and Nutrition in the Global South.
“Next year’s U20 will be held in South Africa so in my capacity as C40 Cities Co-Chair, it was my pleasure to meet with the Mayors of Johannesburg and Tshwane as we begin planning the first-ever U20 convening in Africa.”
With several other speaking and media engagements, Mayor Aki-Sawyerr said it has been a hectic but very productive two days in which she had advanced conversations around refunding for the Freetown Cable Car and the expansion of #FreetownTheTreeTown.