Today is World Environment Day (WED), the United Nations’ principal vehicle for encouraging worldwide awareness and action for the environment. The WED theme this year is “Seven Billion Dreams. One Planet. Consume with Care.”

Globally, people are moving into cities at an increasing rate in search of a better life. High growth rates, particularly in medium and small sized cities in Asia and Africa, pose a strain on human, technical and financial resources of local governments. However, these high growth rates also provide tremendous opportunities for investing in resilience-building actions now that will contribute toward positive growth trajectories of many of the world’s fastest growing cities.

In July, the international community will come together in Addis Ababa to identify ways to provide the necessary resources to achieve our sustainable development objectives over the coming years. Taking place on the African continent, the Third International Conference on Financing for Development will provide an opportunity to ensure that the wide range of development resources available—including aid, partnerships with other actors, and our own domestic resources—can be harnessed effectively by developing countries to support our development priorities.