Mayor Joy Belmonte delivering speech before the UN Environment Assembly-6 in Nairobi Kenya
Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte was chosen as the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) Cities and Regions Summit rapporteur to raise the stakeholders’ concerns to UNEA, the world’s highest-level decision-making body on the environment.
In her speech, Mayor Belmonte highlighted how cities like Quezon City are initiating impactful climate solutions, as she represented cities and regions worldwide during the sixth UNEA in Nairobi, Kenya.
“National governments should work closely with cities via resources and financial support as local authorities implement and cascade these initiatives to the grassroots communities,” she stressed.
Belmonte also discussed Quezon City’s green and sustainable initiatives with Freetown Deputy Mayor Kweku Melvin Lisk Esq and some officials of the United Nations Environment Programme during their visit to the Nairobi National Park and Cultiva farm in Kenya.
Belmonte visits Nairobi National Park and Cultiva farm in Kenya.
Included were the city’s Urban Farming program that created 25,000 good green jobs for QCitizens, the transition of the city’s free bus ride program to an electric fleet, and the vote to tote program that provides livelihood opportunities to persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) turning campaign tarpaulins into fashionable bags.
READ: QC Mayor Belmonte designated ‘Champion of the Earth’
Team QC and UNEP also visited the Nairobi National Park, an 181-kilometer park in the middle of the city where Belmonte expressed admiration for the Kenyan Government for preserving the park, which is home to 400 species including endangered animals.
Belmonte meets Freetown Deputy Mayor Kweku Melvin Lisk Esq and some officials of the United Nations Environment Programme
According to the Mayor, the government was able to demonstrate that urban development can occur without destroying nature and depleting biodiversity.
In 2023, the UNEP recognized Mayor Belmonte as one of the UN Champions of the Earth for her leadership and effective climate actions to eliminate plastic pollution in the city.
Mayor Belmonte, Coun. Vito Sotto Generoso, and Kristine Lea Sy-Gaon of the Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability Department (CCESD) are attending the sixth United Nations Environment Assembly in Nairobi, Kenya.
Belmonte with international delegates in the UNEA-6 in Nairobi,Kenya