Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is among the five urban leaders from across the world to have been invited to speak at a prestigious international online conference, “Daring Cities 2020”, on 7 October.

This conference is being hosted by the Local Governments for Sustainability, popularly known as ICLEI, and the City of Bonn, Germany, with support from the German government, according to a statement issued by the Delhi Chief Minister’s Office (CMO).

“Daring Cities” is a global forum on climate change for urban leaders tackling climate emergencies, especially in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Kejriwal has been invited along with urban leaders and decision-makers from Bogota (Colombia), Sao Paolo (Brazil), Los Angles (USA) and Entebbe (Uganda) to discuss multilevel action to tackle climate emergency and environmental sustainability.

“The event recognises these five as daring urban leaders who are going beyond the limits imposed by their respective local contexts to take bold climate action,” the statement said.

As a leader “making efforts in working towards sustainable development of Delhi, Kejriwal will speak on how the city has responded to the existing climate emergency, the air pollution crisis, including recent innovative solutions such as the Pusa Institute decomposer and the first-of-its-kind EV policy in India to tackle air pollution in the national capital”, the CMO statement said.

The plenary session of the international conference will be held on 7 October evening virtually. The prominent urban and sub-national leaders from Latin America, Africa, North America, and Asia will also present their thoughts on the most essential changes that should be achieved in their respective city/region in the next five years so that their plans to tackle climate emergencies are accelerated.

During the plenary session of the conclave, Kejriwal will be addressing an international and multidisciplinary audience of over 1000 mayors and city councillors, urban thought leaders, national government representatives, researchers, business leaders and community organisers from around the globe.

The plenary session of the conference will also witness keynote addresses by António Guterres, UN Secretary-General, and Svenja Schulze, Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU), Germany, the CMO statement added.