The 10% Resilience Pledge program was announced by the 100 Resilient Cities global solution network in November. The program urges mayors to promise 10% of their cities’s annual budgets toward resilience projects and goals without raising any extra funding or raising taxes.
A resilient city must not only be prepared to address the environmental challenges that the world is facing., but also the long-standing, generational issues around crime, education and income inequality so that no one is left behind. Mitch Landrieu, Mayor of New Orleans
December 2, during the UN’s COP21 Framework Conference on Climate Change in Paris, was the first-ever “Resilience Day.” In honor of the meeting, 21 city representatives from around the world took the pledge to commit $5.2 billion dollars to developing resilience strategies, projects and initiatives for their cities.
This commitment demonstrates our continued efforts within the city of Pittsburgh to build resilience, and it allows us to think strategically and concretely in regards to our allocation of resources in our budgets, Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto
Planned projects include deep energy retrofits, flood controls, neighborhood revitalization, bus rapid transit projects and special budgeting programs. The programs in the resilience pledges will have an impact on 33 million people, changing their homes and enabling them to survive and adapt in spite of chronic stresses and any acute shocks that may occur.
The 21 Resilient Cities Committed to the Challenge:
| Accra, Ghana | Amman, Jordan | Athens, Greece |
| Berkeley, USA | Boulder, USA | Bristol, England |
| Byblos, Lebanon | Cali, Colombia | Huangshi, China |
| Kigali, Rwanda | Mexico City, Mexico | New Orleans, USA |
| Norfolk, USA | Oakland, USA | Paris, France |
| Pittsburgh, USA | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | Rotterdam, the Netherlands |
| Santa Fe, Argentina | Toyama, Japan | Tulsa, USA |
100 Resilient Cities—pioneered by the Rockefeller Foundation—developed the pledge program with input from mayors around the world and with the support of financial and resilience experts. The participating cities will have access to up to $5 million in good and services provided by the program. Key participants in the supporting elements are a collection of private, public, NGO and academic sector stakeholders. By sharing best practices and scaling successful program elements all the participants will gain efficiency and results.
Jill Rundle, Editor, Global Solution Networks