Prior to the COVID-19 crisis, in a world of rapid urbanization, mayors and municipal officials were increasingly demonstrating their leadership in accelerating social and economic progress to advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Their local priorities have taken on added importance as the world plans its recovery from COVID-19. 

This session will explore how the G20 can support and leverage the actions of local leaders to advance sustainable development, especially as their economies emerge from lockdown and they reshape their communities; how the G20 can address the financing constraints that many local governments will face as they seek to enable progress towards the SDGs in the COVID-19 era; and how a healthy institutional relationship between the G20 and U20 can serve as a nexus for alignment and partnership between local and national governments as they jointly pursue a successful long-term recovery that elevates fairness, decreases inequality, and improves sustainability.