At the 2022 U7 Mayors Summit – co-hosted by ICLEI in the context of the Urban7 Group Alliance – mayors came together with high-level representatives of the German G7 Presidency to discuss cities’ decisive role in achieving the G7 Presidency’s vision of “progress towards an equitable world”. Indeed, the cities of the G7 are, together with their global partners, the driving forces working for equitable, sustainable and democratic development. The event took place online on 3 May 2022 and was open to all interested participants. 

The U7 Mayors Summit is the most significant cities event in the framework of the German G7 Presidency. Mayors from the G7 and the Global South formulated their expectations for the G7 Presidency, and made it clear that progress for a just world can only be realised in – and with – strong cities. Mayors also adopted a Mayors Declaration, which presented cities’ demands and commitments toward the G7 Presidency.

At the Summit, mayors lauded the German G7 Presidency’s emphasis on the need for ambitious implementation of the sustainable development goals and welcomed the recognition of cities, sustainable urban development, and multi-level governance in the program of the G7 Presidency 2022.

However, mayors noted that global political system must change for cities’ full potential to be realised.

Peter Kurz, Mayor of ICLEI Member Mannheim (Germany), Chair of the Global Parliament of Mayors, and G7 special envoy of the Association of German Cities Association of German Cities remarked: “The Urban7 welcomes the unprecedented recognition of the importance of cities, urban development, and multi-level governance in the G7 Presidency Programme. We see this as a historic opportunity. However, the transformative power of cities to address major global challenges, as invoked in the Programme, can only be harnessed if the global political system changes to truly include cities, viewing them not primarily as an administrative implementation level, but as a political level in their own right, co-developing policy programs on an equal footing.”

For his part, Frank Cownie, Mayor of Des Moines (USA), and President of ICLEI’s Global Executive Committee said, "In 2022, U7 raised up as an emerging actor in the global urban diplomacy space. The strong unity among U7 local government networks; firm and ambitious positions at the U7 Mayors Declaration; interest and recognition from the G7 Presidency, and solidarity with our partners in the Global South, provide clear evidence of this remarkable progress. ICLEI is committed to supporting the momentum of G7 and connecting with other relevant advocacy opportunities throughout the year, in order to elevate sustainable urban development and critical multi-level cooperation in the global efforts on peace, democracy and sustainability."

The Urban7 Group Alliance, consisting of the Association of German Cities, ICLEI and the Global Parliament of Mayors, hosted the U7 Mayors Summit under the theme “Embracing the Urban World: Cities as Drivers of Change for Peace, Democracy and Sustainability.” The Urban7 Group Alliance is supported by Engagement Global and the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development.

To read additional remarks from local and German-level leaders, find a full press release available here.

For more information on all upcoming U7 activities, visit: https://g7u7.org/.