WMO organized or co-organized eight different events and presented a statement at the key Plenary meeting of the 3rd United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III) in Quito, Ecuador, from 17–20 October 2016.
The cross-cutting urban focus of WMO is very important for realization of the New UN Urban Agenda. Its novel approach, integrating urban weather, water, environment and climate services for sustainable development and multi-hazard early-warning systems for cities, would be a key contribution to the New UN Urban Agenda. Many of the critical aspects for urban resilience and sustainable developments, for example, migration issues, are also relevant for WMO programmes and activities.
HABITAT-III attracted over 45 000 registrants and about 30 000 participants. The main outcome is the adoption of the New UN Urban Agenda for the next 20 years. WMO contributed to Focus Area 5: Urban Ecology and Environment by writing two main papers, 17: Cities and Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management, and 15: Urban Resilience.
