Global General

World mayors sign pact on emission cut

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-11-22 10:28

MEXICO CITY - Some 140 mayors from 43 countries and regions across the world signed a pact on Sunday, pledging to help reduce the greenhouse gas emissions.

The Cities' Global Climate Change Pact, also known as Mexico City Pact, was signed by 138 mayors who attended the Mayors' World Climate Change Summit (CCLIMA) 2010 hosted in Mexico City on Sunday.

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The mayors agreed to exert more efforts and take further measures dealing with the climate change.

These measures include voluntary reduction of the greenhouse emissions through policies, laws and campaigns according to each city's capacity and resources.

The measures also include the use of sustainable transportation, the adequate management of the resources and energy efficiency.

President of the Pensar Foundation Gabriel Sanchez Diaz, who read the document, said that this initiative will be taken to the upcoming UN climate conference (COP16) to be hosted in the Mexican city of Cancun from November 29 to December 10.

Sanchez said that with this pact the mayors seek the support of the multilateral institutions and the creation of direct access mechanisms to financing in order to improve the life quality of poor inhabitants in cities, who are the most vulnerable to the climate change.

During the meeting, Mexico City's mayor Marcelo Ebrard was appointed as global ambassador of the campaign Developing Resilience Cities of the United Nations.

Ebrard will be in charge of taking the message of the Mexico City Pact to the COP16, which was signed, among others, by Paris' mayor Bertrand Delanoe, Johannesburg's mayor Amos Masondo, New Orleans' mayor Mitch Landrieu and Los Angeles' mayor Antonio Villarraigosa.

Ebrard said that one of the key points of the Pact is to launch the Local Climate Actions Record, also called "Carbonn" which is a unique, single and homologue tool for the cities to accredit the impact of their climate actions in a scientific and technical way.

The Carbonn will allow the cities to register in Internet the actions to lighten and adapt to the climate change, he said.

He added that they also agree the cities will have eight months to register their actions.