C40, mayors' summit on the climate crisis opens in Copenhagen
Environment — di Andrea Barolini
The C40 summit is being held in Copenhagen starting today. President Anne Hidalgo: “Unprecedented action is needed to tackle the emergency”.
C40, mayors' summit on the climate crisis opens in Copenhagen
The C40 summit is being held in Copenhagen starting today. President Anne Hidalgo: “Unprecedented action is needed to tackle the emergency”.
The C40 World Mayors Summit opens today in Copenhagen and runs until 12 October, bringing together mayors from across the world alongside young environmental activists, organisations, campaigners and scientists. The aim is to propose solutions to tackle the climate crisis.
We need all hands on deck to build #TheFutureWeWant. Mayors are reimagining our way of life, and at the C40 World Mayors Summit they will join global decision-makers, young people & citizens to advocate for a more resilient future 👉C40summit2019.org
70 mayors from around the world expected at the C40
More than 70 city leaders are expected in the Danish capital, led by Mayor Frank Jensen and C40 President French politician Anne Hidalgo, along with young people who have been part of the FridaysForFuture movement, from 30 countries. An event open to the general public is also planned: Copenhagen residents will be able to take part in Live Like Tomorrow, a "city summit" animated by people of all ages, with the aim of bringing the C40 closer to ordinary people.
During the official summit (which LifeGate will be covering live), speakers are expected to include — among others — United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, former United States Vice-President Al Gore, UN Special Envoy for Climate Action Michael Bloomberg, and the mayors of Milan and Rome, Giuseppe Sala and Virginia Raggi.
📣30 cities around the world have peaked their greenhouse gas emissions. This is a major climate milestone demonstrating that a rapid & equitable low-carbon transition is possible! 🎉 Learn more 👉bit.ly/2onl7CF #TheFutureWeWant
Ahead of the summit's outcomes, recent days have been focused on the goals achieved so far. Thirty major C40 cities — including Paris, Berlin, Barcelona, Athens, Copenhagen, Milan, Oslo, Rome, London and New York — have stated that they have managed to reduce their CO2 emissions by an average of 22 per cent over recent decades. Leading the way is the Danish capital itself, which since 1991 has achieved a reduction of 60 per cent, thanks above all to a drastic transition towards zero-impact mobility systems.
Meeting of cities signed up to the Milan Pact held in Montpellier
Across the 30 cities in question, there are now 66,000 electric buses, while 24 of them have already drawn up plans to be powered solely by renewable energy by 2030. In 17 cases, a total ban on the circulation of the most polluting vehicles has also been introduced.
The push for climate action by mayors was further confirmed during a meeting held in recent days in Montpellier, France, by 90 international delegations. The aim: to implement the commitments made under the Milan Pact (Milan Urban Food Policy Pact), launched at the 2015 Expo. It includes three main commitments: preserving agricultural land, promoting local supply chains and combating food waste. A manifesto for sustainable food, in other words, to which 200 cities have now signed up.
"While we talk, CO2 emissions keep rising"
"We are facing an emergency — said Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris — made worse by forecasts of global population growth. Last month, 7.6 million people took to the streets to protest. This week, Extinction Rebellion launched peaceful and non-violent actions around the world. Time is running out: we need to act now, and with unprecedented resolve."
1/ NEW STATEMENT FROM @Anne_Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris and Chair of C40 📢 "We are facing a climate emergency, and a growing number of people around the world, particularly young people, are treating it as such. link.medium.com/599NTTUMC0
The C40 President went on to add that "even today, global CO2 emissions are still rising, despite the commitment of our network of cities. At a global level, they must start to fall as early as next year. And they will need to be halved by 2030." Otherwise, it will be impossible to honour the commitments made under the Paris Agreement.