The World Council is the principal policy-making body of the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) World Organization. It is composed of 342 political representatives nominated from all world regions. The World Council meets once a year to decide the World Organization’s policies and ensure that general policies are implemented. The theme of the UCLG World Council 2021 is “Smart cities and territories, pillars of the common.”

To ensure a broader outreach of the Council’s policy debates, the UCLG World Council 2021 meetings took place in the context of the Smart City Expo World Congress, of which UCLG is a strategic partner. The sessions were delivered in a hybrid format: online and in Barcelona, Spain.

The Earth Negotiations Bulletin provided coverage of the following policy debates organized in conjunction with the Smart City Expo World Congress:

• UCLG World Council Policy Debate and Business Session, addressed how the municipal movement can contribute to the UN Secretary-General’s Common Agenda, and the ways in which the world needs to transform in the coming years, with an emphasis on the future of human rights;
• Pact for the Future: Renewing the Social Contract for the Great Reset, which built on the lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic to demonstrate the essential role local and regional governments play in protecting communities around the world, and provide policy recommendations to guide the development of the Pact; and
• World Forum of Regions, which addressed the unique role of regional governments to improve ties and collaborative governance towards a future of solidarity with communities, for present and future generations, and launched an outcome declaration.

Funding for IISD’s Earth Negotiations Bulletin coverage of this event has been provided by UCLG.