HOW TO FUTURE-PROOF OUR CITIES EVENTS
OPEC Fund Senior Director Shaimaa Al-Sheiby opens UNIDO conference “Bridge for Cities” in Vienna
R apid urbanization is one of the key development challenges of our time. The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) dedicated its “Bridges for Cities” conference in early September in Vienna to the discussion of sustainable solutions. In her opening address, OPEC Fund Senior Director, Strategic Planning & Economic Services Shaimaa Al-Sheiby said: “By integrating climate considerations into planning, design and maintenance of infrastructure, we can enhance the adaptive capacity of these cities and simultaneously bolster their attractiveness for investment.” Today, more than half the world’s population (56.2 percent) live in cities. The trend of moving from rural areas is most pronounced in Latin America and the Caribbean, where more than 80 percent of the population now live in urban areas. Many struggle and, according to the UN, as many as 3 billion people worldwide will be in need of adequate and a ff ordable housing by 2030. Nevertheless, urbanization is set to grow further with the UN predicting that 68 percent of the global population will live in urban areas by 2050. The insurance company Zurich, which monitors global risks, has identified four big challenges associated with urbanization: infrastructure, health, climate change and social instability.
EVENT: UNIDO Bridge for Cities
Development finance institutions must play a pivotal role...to support climate-smart projects.
Shaimaa Al-Sheiby, OPEC Fund Senior Director Strategic Planning & Economic Services, delivers her opening address
PHOTO: UNIDO
and to reduce the toll disasters take on lives and economies?’” Highlighting the OPEC Fund’s commitment to climate action, she emphasized
“The needs are enormous,” stressed Ms. Al-Sheiby. But there are also opportunities like access to education, employment, wealth creation and upward social mobility: “That’s why people are motivated to
Shaimaa Al-Sheiby, OPEC Fund Senior Director
the importance of strengthening climate resilience:
Strategic Planning & Economic Services
“Development finance institutions such as ours
move to cities and towns in the first place,” the latest Zurich report said in April 2023. The goal of the UNIDO conference was to promote approaches in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The event featured segments on advancing climate action in cities, accelerating industry decarbonization and innovation in net zero transportation. As Ms. Al-Sheiby put it: “We often ask ourselves, ‘how can we equip cities with the capacity to absorb shocks, to bounce back from adversity
must play a pivotal role, working with impact investors and governments to provide funding, incentivize innovation and support climate-smart projects.” The OPEC Fund and UNIDO are long-standing partners. To date, the OPEC Fund has extended US$2.5 million in grants to the UN organization benefiting the agriculture and energy sectors. Earlier this year, the OPEC Fund committed US$1.5 million to UNIDO in support of a technical assistance grant for the National Clean Cooking Transition Program in Madagascar.
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