Call for greenhouse gas emission targets issued by mayors of 21 Canadian cities

In preparation for December’s COP21 UN Climate Conference in Paris, Canada's Big City Mayor's Caucus has issued a call for targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Canadian cities.

The caucus, made up of mayors representing 21 of Canada's big cities, is chaired by Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson, who issued the call for climate action on behalf of the caucus following the World Summit for Climate & Territories in Lyon, France, where local governments from around the world met last week (July 1 to 2) to discuss commitments and proposals to end climate change, ahead of COP21. 

"We are united in calling upon other levels of government in Canada and throughout the world to join us in committing to meaningful and binding emissions targets," said Mayor Robertson in a news release issued on Monday (July 6). Robertson said that there is a serious need for a resolution in Paris that will "respect the needs of our cities, our planet, and the generations to come." 

The call for action outlined three specific commitments, including support for binding greenhouse-gas-emissions targets on international, national, and municipal scales for both the short and long-term, the implementation of specific plans that will aim to cut greenhouse gas emissions while identifying and mitigating the risks of climate change, and regular reporting of greenhouse gas emissions through the Carbon Disclosure Project.

Similar initiatives, like the Compact of Mayors, a coalition of city leaders from around the world launched at 2014's United Nations Climate Summit, have already seen city leaders from around the world pledge to reduce and track emissions in an effort to reduce the harmful effects of climate change worldwide. As 70 percent of worldwide emissions are produced in urban environments, the action called the participation of cities "essential" to reducing and tracking emissions.

Michael R. Bloomberg, the UN secretary-general's special envoy for cities and climate change, called the resolution "a concrete commitment to take bold action", and applauded Mayor Robertson for his leadership.