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Building inclusive and peaceful cities on the frontlines of climate change

When: Tuesday 06 October 2026 | 15:50 - 16:50

Format: Breakout session

Hosted by: adelphi global and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)

Cities are on the front lines of climate change, facing increasing exposure to extreme heat, flooding and resource scarcity. These risks are often intensified in informal and underserved settlements, where limited access to water, health services and adequate infrastructure — combined with insecure tenure and weak social protection — reduce people's ability to prepare for and recover from climate impacts. These pressures interact with existing inequalities, governance challenges, criminality and changing patterns of human mobility, creating risks to urban peace and security. Children, young people and women are particularly affected, including through reduced access to education, livelihoods, safety and protection from gender-based violence. They also bring important perspectives and capacities to local responses.

Urban vulnerabilities can further aggravate climate impacts on sexual and reproductive health and rights. Extreme heat can worsen maternal and neonatal outcomes, while flooding, displacement and service disruptions limit access to contraception, maternal care and protection services. Research suggests that a one-degree Celsius increase in the week before delivery corresponds with a 6 per cent greater likelihood of stillbirth, with a UNFPA-IIASA study showing that a four-degree rise could triple intimate partner violence cases in Sub-Saharan Africa by 2060.

Yet cities are also engines of economic growth, employment and innovation. From community-led early warning systems to green infrastructure and inclusive urban planning, they are laboratories for the resilience solutions the world urgently needs.

This session examines how cities can address these interconnected challenges through stronger governance, financing and partnerships — protecting sexual and reproductive health and rights, strengthening social cohesion and building inclusive, peaceful and resilient communities. Against this backdrop, the session poses a central provocation to participants:

If cities are both the epicentre of climate risk and the best laboratory for solutions — why are the people most exposed still the least heard, least protected and least resourced to act?

Speakers:

Moderated by Héctor Camilo Morales Muñoz, Senior Advisor, Climate Diplomacy and Security, adelphi global

Return to the BCSC 2026 Agenda.