UN invites Noida and Greater Noida to participate in the Global Sustainable Cities 2025 initiative
The twin cities selected in 'University City' category of Global Sustainable Cities 2025 will work with other university cities like Cambridge, Palo Alto, Trondheim, Espoo, and Heidelberg to create Sustainability Innovation and Research Hubs.
The United Nations has selected Noida and Greater Noida to participate in its Global Sustainable Cities 2025 initiative. The initiative aims to create 25 model cities across the world by 2025; these cities will be fully compliant with sustainable development goals (SDGs).
The twin cities in Uttar Pradesh pipped Mumbai and Bengaluru, also under UN consideration, to be chosen under the 'University City' category. They are the only two cities from India to make it to the UN shortlist.
In an official statement, Roland Schatz, Senior UN Adviser and CEO of UN Global Sustainability Index Institute (UNGSII), said, “Noida (along with Greater Noida) has been formally invited to participate in this showcase ‘Race to Sustainability’ among 25 global cities to become fully compliant with Sustainable Development Goals by 2025 under the UN Global Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) cities initiative,” The Tribune reported.
Race to 2025 will officially be launched in New York City in July 2019. The invite will entitle Noida and Greater Noida for “multimillion US dollars finance and implementation know-how for each of the 17 SDGs along the defined key performance indicators (KPIs)”.
The UN General Assembly in September 2015 adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This includes 17 SDGs, also known as Global Goals, such as poverty reduction, elimination of hunger, greater gender equality, social justice, and environment-friendly practices to promote peace and prosperity, New Indian Express reported.
The main objective of the Global Sustainable Cities 2025 initiative is to bring university cities like Cambridge, Palo, Alto, Trondheim, Espoo, and Heidelberg together to create Sustainability Innovation and Research Hubs. The selected cities will be role models for other cities in the world towards achieving the SDG 2030 goal.
The initiative will include competitions and activities, knowledge-sharing, and capacity-building that will be supported by SDG experts, UN agencies, and industry partners. The objective is to show that SDG implementation results in prosperity and quality of life for citizens and businesses, and has no negative impact.
Speaking about the invitation, Brajesh Narain Singh, District Magistrate of Gautam Buddh Nagar, said, “We [have] about 600 government schools at primary level, 139 schools affiliated with CBSE, and eight universities with more than 50,000 students. They need direction and must be linked with what is happening elsewhere in the world. This initiative, I think, will also help overall growth in both Noida and Greater Noida.”
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