Visitors walk through the venue of the 13th session of the World Urban Forum on Monday in Baku, Azerbaijan. AZIZ KARIMOV/GETTY IMAGES
Anaclaudia Rossbach, executive director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, or UN-Habitat, says cities must place housing, resilient infrastructure and nature-based solutions at the center of urban planning to withstand growing climate threats such as floods, heat waves and droughts.
In an interview with China Daily on the sidelines of the 13th session of the World Urban Forum, or WUF13, being held in Baku, Azerbaijan, Rossbach said rapid and often unplanned urbanization is concentrating people and infrastructure in highly climate-vulnerable areas, exposing millions of residents, especially low-income communities, to escalating climate risks.
She said more than 1 billion people live in informal settlements, often located in flood-prone or environmentally fragile areas globally, while nearly 3 billion people face some form of housing inadequacy.
"Without stronger climate action, inequality and housing insecurity will only deepen," Rossbach said.
