World Mayors and Local Governments Launch Climate Change Agreement at Bali, Indonesia

One of the major outcomes of the Bali Conference on Climate Change was an Agreement by world mayors and other representatives of local government to work, independently in their various cities and collectively to achieve the reductions in greenhouse gas emissions required to avoid catastrophic impacts from climate change.

The situation where today more than 50 percent of the world’s population lives in cities and more than 75 percent of all energy is consumed means that all cities are highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, especially fast growing cities in developing countries.

Mayors and local governments are critical when it comes to practical climate actions, if genuinely empowered and resourced, have the potential to lead emission reductions to ensure high global greenhouse gas emissions reductions targets are met.

Mayors and local governments in the Agreement call upon all national governments to work through the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to adopt commitments to stay within a 2 degree Celsius threshold increase of the Earth’s surface temperature. The Agreement specifically calls for a framework that will achieve a reduction of 60 percent greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels by 2050 globally, with industrialised countries committing to 80 percent greenhouse gas reductions from 1990 levels.

Accepting the challenge and responsibility to lead and take action to combat the rapid and dangerous rate of warming of the planet and building on the existing commitments of local government leaders and their associations - including the ICLEI Cities for Climate Protection™ Campaign, World Mayors Council on Climate Change, the US Mayors’ Climate Protection Agreement, C40 Climate Leadership Group and the United Cities and Local Government (UCLG) Jeju Declaration, mayors and local governments set forth the following commitments:

1. REDUCE greenhouse gas emissions immediately and significantly. Measure and report on annual reductions of greenhouse gas emissions and constantly work to increase reductions such that by 2050 greenhouse gas emissions will be reduced worldwide by 60% from 1990 levels and by 80 percent from 1990 levels in industrialized countries.

2. IMPLEMENT sub-national, national and international frameworks that are complementary and enable local governments by providing resources, authority and sufficient mandate to carry forward these roles and responsibilities.

3. BUILD a sustainable energy economy through energy savings and the application of new and existing renewable and high efficiency technologies, to reduce dependence on fossil and nuclear fuels and aim for lowest-carbon options.

4. EXECUTE climate change adaptation and preparedness measures through local government planning, development and operational mechanisms, prioritizing the most vulnerable cities.

5. ADVOCATE that every national delegation participating in the UNFCCC negotiations include local government designated representation to ensure that local climate priorities and actions are included in future negotiations.

6. PERSISTANTLY CALL for national governments to join the international community to undertake binding carbon limits to rapidly and significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the short-term and by at least 60 percent worldwide below 1990 levels by 2050.

For more information on the Agreement click here: http://www.iclei.org/index.php?id=7337
 

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