Urban October is an opportunity started by UN Habitat for everyone to be part of the conversation about the challenges and opportunities created by the fast rate of change in our cities and towns. Each October, everyone interested in sustainable urbanization from national and local governments to universities, NGOs, and communities is encouraged to hold or participate in activities, events, and discussions. The month begins with World Habitat Day on the first Monday of the month and ends with World Cities Day on 31 October. Activities take place on those specific days or at any time during the month. Every year, GIZ Sector Programme Cities hosts an elaborate event programme throughout the month, which will be acessible on City-transitions.global.

COP 16 will be the first Biodiversity COP since the adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework at COP 15 in December 2022 in Montreal, Canada. At COP 16, governments will be tasked with reviewing the state of implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. Parties to the Convention are expected to show the alignment of their National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) with the Framework. COP 16 will further develop the monitoring framework and advance resource mobilization for the Global Biodiversity Framework. Among other tasks, COP 16 is also due to finalize and operationalize the multilateral mechanism on the fair and equitable sharing of benefits from the use of digital sequence information on genetic resources. Attached to the CBD COP there will be a Subnational Governments & Cities Summit. (more information tba)