This House of Lords Library Briefing provides information to mark the upcoming World Cities Day on 31 October 2019.
World Cities Day (189 KB , PDF)
In 2013, the United Nations designated 31 October as annual World Cities Day. The day is intended to promote interest in urbanisation and cooperation in meeting the challenges it brings. In 2019, the theme of the day is how innovation and technological progress can be used to promote sustainable development in cities.
This briefing first provides background on the growth of cities and the challenges and opportunities this presents. It then considers what the UN means by sustainable development, and the framework which the UN has adopted to promote it. The briefing next looks at the possible impact of new technologies. Finally, it summarises the UK approach to promoting sustainable global urban development.
World Cities Day (189 KB , PDF)
The government published its plan to reduce storm overflow spills and their harmful impacts in August 2022. Under the plan, water companies will have to meet several time-bound targets to limit storm overflow use and eliminate ecological harm from their discharges by 2050. The government was required to publish this plan by 1 September 2022 under the Environment Act 2021.
The world is currently experiencing a food crisis. UK consumers are also facing rapid food price inflation. Both the UK government and international bodies, such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, have identified climate change and biodiversity loss as major contributing factors to food insecurity in the UK and around the world. This briefing considers the nature and extent of this impact and government policies to improve UK food security.
On 4 August 1972, Ugandan President Idi Amin gave his country’s Asian population 90 days in which to leave the country. Almost 40,000 Ugandan Asians would come to the UK over the months that followed to start new lives, leaving behind homes and businesses in the country of their birth. A national commemorative event will take place in London on 18 September 2022, 50 years after the first evacuation flight landed at Stansted airport.
