ARISE Cities Forum 2026 Opens in New Delhi for Global South

The second edition of the ARISE Cities Forum opened on 27 October 2026 at the India Habitat Centre in New Delhi. The two-day forum is being run by ICLEI South Asia along with the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA), with support from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. It was opened by Shri Tokhan Sahu, Union Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs, who said the talks must end in practical steps that city governments can actually take up.

Theme, size and shape

The forum carries the theme From Bharat to Antalya - Commit. Implement. Deliver. It has been built around 3 technical plenaries and 14 technical sessions, and brings together more than 200 delegates from over 50 cities in more than 18 countries of the Global South. The sessions look at how local governments in these countries are working on urban resilience, sustainability and development that is both fair and low in carbon.

The Delhi Declaration

The discussions feed into the Delhi Declaration on Local Action for Global Climate Goals 2026. It will be adopted at the forum on 28 October 2026 and then carried to COP31 in Antalya, Turkiye, so that the priorities of cities in the Global South are heard in global climate talks.

Who spoke, and the launches

The opening also had Shoko Ishikawa, Country Representative of UN Women India, Dr Debolina Kundu, Director of NIUA, Gino Van Begin, Secretary General of ICLEI, and Emani Kumar, Deputy Secretary General of ICLEI. Mayors from the region were present as well, including those of Kochi in India, Fuvahmulah in the Maldives, Karjanha in Nepal and Samdrup Jongkhar in Bhutan. Shri Tokhan Sahu tied the effort to India's climate commitments and the goal of Viksit Bharat 2047.

The first day had 2 plenary sessions and 8 technical sessions. The Centre for Sustainable Urban Mobility and Integrated Transportation, short-named SUMMIT, was launched, along with state-level project pipeline reports on investing in climate resilient cities for Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, and a compendium of case studies on gender equity in transport. Winners of the Youth for Climate Hackathon were given the Ritu Thakur Memorial Award, and an understanding was exchanged between the Global Buildings Performance Network and ICLEI South Asia.