Last week the Pope toured through the US, bringing with him a message of hope and a call to action on climate change. His efforts were echoed at Climate Week NYC, and an in an important series of new commitments by city and regional leaders. These new city and municipal pledges mark an important new development in the fight against climate change.
The most recent agreement, called the Under 2 MOU, is voluntary, and will reduce fossil fuel emissions by 80% of 1990 levels. Additionally, the plan aims to reduce per capita carbon emissions to only two—currently it measures at 18 tons per person in the US.
Glen Murray, Ontario’s environment minister says it best, “by making cooperative commitments and supporting one another, we are already doing what many national governments are failing to do.” The forty cities involved represent 313 million people and $8.7 trillion in GDP—numbers that rival some of the most populous and prosperous countries. These regional and local governments are already proving that significant climate action can be accomplished without waiting for national and international leadership. For more information on how your city can become a climate leader, come and join Path to Positive Communities.
Regional leaders from around world sign pledge to reduce carbon pollution
By Joby Warrick and Chris Mooney | Washington Post | September 24, 2015
NEW YORK — Mayors and regional leaders from around the world welcomed Pope Francis’s arrival in New York on Thursday by signing a pledge to drastically cut carbon pollution, joining a growing movement of local jurisdictions that are pushing for aggressive action on climate change regardless of what national governments choose to do.
The officials, representing cities and provinces from San Francisco to Kathmandu, Nepal, stood in line to sign what organizers called the “Under 2 MOU,” a voluntary pact that seeks to reduce emission of greenhouse gases by at least 80 percent compared with 1990s levels.
