Nearly 1,000 cities pledge to achieve 100% of renewable energy by 2050
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One thousand mayors from cities such as Rio de Janeiro, Santiago de Chile, London, Copenhagen, Berlin, Sydney, Seoul, Shanghai, New Delhi, Johannesburg, Chicago, Los Angeles and Montreal -among many others-, established their commitments against climate change at a meeting in the Local Leaders Climate Summit which took place on December 4 in the Municipality of Paris.
The meeting was convened by Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris and Michael Bloomberg, former Mayor of New York and United Nations Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change. The event was also attended by leaders such as Al Gore and renowned personalities such as Leonardo DiCaprio to support this initiative.
At the end of the event, the mayors made ambitious commitments to address climate change:
- Exceed the goals of the climate agreement to be reached at COP21.
- Generate and implement participatory resilience strategies and 2020 action plans to adapt to climate change risks.
- Transition to 100% of renewable energy by 2050 and 80% of greenhouse gas reduction by 2050.
- Add up to a reduction of 3.7 gigatons of urban greenhouse gases by 2030.
- Build internal and external partnerships with global organizations from the private sector and civil society to strengthen capacities, scale best practices, develop financial mechanisms and investments in low-carbon development projects.
These commitments are of global relevance, as the cities present at the meeting represent some 600 million inhabitants and mobilize nearly a quarter of the planet's economy.
Relevance of cities in the face of climate change
Cities are key to limiting global temperature rise. Cities alone are responsible for 70% of greenhouse gas emissions. But by 2030, it is estimated that around 60% of the global population will live in cities, according to the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate.
However, cities are also places where innovation, investment and action on climate change can take place. For example, issues such as sustainable construction, energy efficiency, renewable energy, transport regulation and improving the food production chain have great potential for innovation.
On Saturday 05, a delegation led by Anne Hidalgo, Michael Bloomberg, and the presidents of the three main international networks of cities, will visit the COP21 headquarters to deliver this declaration and commitments to counter global warming to the COP21 negotiators.
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