Mayors meet on catastrophic climate change

Mayors meet on catastrophic climate change



May 2007 -   The Mayor of London, Ken 
Livingstone, today addressed mayors from 34 of the world's largest cities 
about the dangers of catastrophic climate change and the need for 
immediate action. 
Speaking at the C40 Large Cities Climate Summit in New York, Mayor 
Livingstone said, "The fight to tackle climate change will be won or lost 
in cities. Whatever the discussions between our national governments, as 
cities we are not waiting for anyone else to move first." 
The C40 is a group of the world's largest cities committed to addressing 
climate change. Mayors from across the United States and around the world 
are at the summit including the mayors of Bangkok, Berlin, Bogata, 
Chicago, Copenhagen, Delhi, Houston, Istanbul, Johannesburg, Mexico City, 
Rio, Rome, Sao Paulo, Seoul, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto, and Vancouver. 

London Mayor Ken Livingstone is also chairman of the C40 Large Cities 
Climate Summit. 
"The programs which we are going to be able to announce this week and over 
the coming months are truly ground-breaking," Mayor Livingstone said. 
"They will create the opportunity for cities to take decisive action to 
accelerate their emissions reductions and in so doing tilt the balance of 
the struggle against climate change. Together we can create a critical 
mass that puts the world on the path to tackling the biggest challenged 
ever faced by humanity." 
"We are not going to simply talk about what we could do, while the window 
of opportunity for preventing catastrophic climate change disappears," 
said the London mayor, who chairs the C40. "Every city here today is a 
leader in at least one aspect of the fight to tackle climate change." 
"We are increasingly interconnected - no city can wall itself off from the 
consequences of climate change, and no city can prevent catastrophic 
climate change on its own," said Livingstone. "Each city's presence here 
today demonstrates a willingness to work together towards a common cause." 

A comprehensive program of interactive sessions has been created to enable 
the mayors, their senior staff members and business leaders, to share best 
practices and identify collaborative projects aimed at tackling climate 
change. The summit continues through Thursday. 
Former President Bill Clinton will give one of the keynote speeches at the 
event. Later in the week, major collaborative projects will be announced 
as part of the C40s collaboration with the Clinton Climate Initiative. 
Controlling emissions from traffic in central London is a priority for 
Mayor Livingstone. 
"Together, our cities have considerable purchasing clout and the C40, 
through the Clinton Climate Initiative, is seeking to unleash that power, 
driving down the price of the products and services that will enable us to 
rapidly improve energy efficiency and cut emissions," Livingstone said. 
The core message of Mayor Livingstone's own Climate Change Action Plan is 
that Londoners do not have to reduce their standard of living for London 
to play its part in tackling climate change. But all residents have to 
change the way they live from a high energy-use, wasteful economic model 
to one that conserves energy and minimizes waste. 
Speaking at a summit panel session which was full to capacity, Mayor 
Livingstone discussed London's congestion charge with Mayor Beto Richa of 
Curitiba, President of the Partnership for New York City Kathryn Wylde, 
delegates from Rome, Bangkok, Vancouver, and representatives of business 
organizations. 
"Cities across the world are telling me that reducing congestion and 
cutting vehicle emissions is a real priority for them and many are asking 
about London's congestion charge," Livingstone said. 
"Despite hostile media coverage predicting doom and gloom, it proved to be 
a success," he said, "with a 38 percent reduction in private car use and 
carbon emissions down 20 per cent in the congestion charge zone. We 
invested heavily in our public transport system to offer Londoners a real 
alternative to their cars and the results speak for themselves - we now 
have over 80 per cent more people choosing to cycle and over six million 
people traveling by bus each day." 
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg aroused controversy when he proposed a 
congestion charge for Manhattan on April 23 as part of the city's 
multi-billion dollar Green Plan. 
At the summit today, Toronto Mayor David Miller unveiled an initiative 
that he says will put Canada’s largest city "at the forefront of the 
citizen-based global fight against climate change." 

Mayor David Miller is encouraging each Toronto resident to create an 
individual plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 
A hybrid of environmental footprint calculator and a web-based social 
network, Zerofootprint Toronto illustrates to users the impact every 
aspect of their daily lives has on the environment while allowing them to 
network with friends, neighbors and co-workers to create a virtual 
eco-community. 
Users are encouraged to create joint initiatives and challenges, compile 
their results, and measure and celebrate their success. 
"Climate change is the issue of our time and it’s up to all of us to do 
our part to minimize the impact of day-to-day activities," said Mayor 
Miller. 

Downtown Toronto, Ontario
"Zerofootprint Toronto is going to help make my city not only one of the 
greenest on the planet, but one of the most innovative as well. Our 
residents are anxious to do what they can to help save the planet and 
reduce greenhouse gas emissions and they are looking for ways to do it. 
This is just one more way." 
Mayor Miller challenged his fellow mayors at the C40 summit to adopt the 
Zerofootprint model in their cities. 
Zerofootprint president and CEO Ron Dembo said, "The vision is to show the 
cumulative impacts of all participating cities, create joint initiatives, 
measure their achievements and celebrate their successes. By acting 
together cities can have as much impact on the environment as one large 
country." 
"Cities are where change is happening the fastest and we must seize the 
opportunities we have been presented with to make that change significant 
and permanent," said Mayor Miller. 
In Los Angeles, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, in partnership with the Los 
Angeles City Council and environmental leaders, today unveiled "GREEN LA – 
An Action Plan to Lead the Nation in Fighting Global Warming." Mayor 
Villaraigosa is scheduled to attend the C40 Climate Summit later in the 
week. 
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa today set a greenhouse gas 
emissions target for the city. 
"We’re setting the green standard in LA. Reducing our carbon footprint by 
35 percent below 1990 levels is the most ambitious goal set by a major 
American city," Mayor Villaraigosa said. 
GREEN LA aims to reduce Los Angeles’ greenhouse gas emissions by 35 
percent below 1990 levels by 2030. This target goes beyond those set by 
the Kyoto Protocol and is greatest reduction target of any large U.S. 
city. 
The core of GREEN LA is increasing the city’s use of renewable energy to 
35 percent by 2020. 
GREEN LA proposes more than 50 initiatives that will reduce the city’s 
carbon footprint. Ownership of the largest municipal utility in the 
country allows the city to directly affect a major source of greenhouse 
gases – electricity production. 
Overall, city operations account for one-third of all emissions of carbon 
dioxide, the main greenhouse gas responsible for global warming. 
Investing in energy efficiency and renewable power at the municipal level 
is only part of the solution, the mayor said. The city must leverage 
change in the public and private sectors by promoting green energy, 
conserving water, building a world-class transportation system, reducing 
waste, greening the port and airports, creating more open space and park 
land, and adapting its economy to the realities of global climate change. 
"Climate change is an issue that affects us all, both globally and 
locally," said Los Angeles Council President Eric Garcetti. "With this 
greenhouse gas reduction goal, the Mayor is recognizing the city's work 
towards reducing our carbon footprint and putting Los Angeles at the 
forefront of one of the great issues of our time."    

       
      

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