Global distinction for Chefchaouen

The Moroccan city is featured in this inaugural ranking alongside international metropolises such as San Francisco, Bologna or Kuala Lumpur. This program, led by the UN Secretary-General’s Advisory Board with the support of UN-Habitat and UNEP, aims to address a major environmental crisis, knowing that humanity generates more than 2.1 billion tons of solid waste per year.

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To address this emergency, the winning agglomerations are deploying various practical measures. Their actions include preventing food waste, managing organic materials, integrating informal workers into inclusive recycling models, and reducing single-use products. The institutional objective is to pool these best practices to encourage other territories to initiate change.

The international authorities commend the concrete application of these policies on the ground. "These 20 cities count not because they have the best roadmaps on paper, but because they are turning ambition into action," says José Manuel Moller, Vice-President of the Advisory Board.

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For her part, UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen adds that these local initiatives prove that waste management offers "opportunities to reinvent our economies through innovation, circularity and equity." The twenty winners, including Chefchaouen, will thus see their models highlighted on global platforms to demonstrate the crucial role of local governments in climate action.