City of Malmö becomes the newest Resilience Hub

It is the second in Sweden and fifth in Europe to join the club of local governments that spearhead the drive to make cities future-proof

The Swedish city of Malmö has been named the latest Resilience Hub by the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) within the framework of its Making Cities Resilient 2030 (MCR2030). The high distinction affirms and recognized the work done by local authorities in preparation for and in mitigating climate-related hazards.

With this distinction, Malmö joins four other cities in Europe that were declared Resilience Hubs in November of 2021 – Barcelona, Manchester, Milan and Helsingborg (also in Sweden). Malmö itself has some serious credentials as a sustainability-minded city, having been the first Swedish municipality to sign the UN’s Agenda 2030.

It is also currently hosting the ICLEI World Congress Summit 2021-22 (11-13 May), a global platform where local governments showcase their sustainability initiatives and exchange ideas. In fact, the Resilience Hub status was announced during that event today.

The risks of having a coastal location

The Swedish city is recognised for its work to reduce the risk posed by rising sea levels, extreme weather and climate change. In fact, just like any other coastal settlement, it is threatened by these unique risks even if not many people think of the Nordic country as risk prone.

The reality, however, is different. Malmö was severely flooded after a cloudburst event in 2014. As a result, it recently completed a special coastal protection analysis, and a coastal protection strategy is expected to be finalised next year. The city has also taken steps to cut its energy use in city-owned buildings by 30 per cent and was named the most environmentally friendly municipality in the country last year.

"As a coastal city, Malmö is facing challenges from sea-level rise, storms, cloudbursts, and heatwaves today and even more in the future," said Katrin Stjernfeldt Jammeh, Mayor of Malmö.

The recognition shows that risk management is an aspect of modern urban governance that cannot be and should not be underestimated under any circumstances.