Cities need to lead the way – 138 mayors sign the Mexico City Pact

138 mayors from around the world have signed a pact to address climate change at the World Mayors Summit on Climate (WMSC), held in Mexico City during Sunday the 21st. The summit gathered mayors signing the voluntary ‘Global Cities Covenant on Climate’ (the Mexico City Pact). Martha Delgado, secretary of the environment in Mexico City and ICLEI vice president, explained how the pact is intended to send a clear message to the international community on the strategic importance of cities in the struggle against climate change.

Marcelo Ebrard, mayor of Mexico City and chair of the World Mayors Council on Climate, opened the Summit by stressing the role of mayors as key factors in the fight against climate change. More than half of the world’s population is today living in cities, making urban leaders and mayors play a critical and strategic role in the fight against a changing climate. David Cadman, President of ‘ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability’ and councilor of Vancouver, added that cities today are responsible for 70 % of GHG emissions and 67 % of the global energy use. By the end of this century this will only be emphasized since 90 % of the world population is expected to live in cities.

On the other hand the potential for GHG emissions reduction in cities are tremendous, stated Cassam Uteem, Representative of Club Madrid, ex Mayor of Port Louis and ex Prime Minister of the Republic of Mauritius. The cities can help change citizen behavior. Cities are much closer to the citizens – and are quicker to adapt to change.

Thus all mayors stressed the importance of including local governments in the battle against climate change and how the pact symbolizes that mayors of the world are joined in this fight. ‘We should be able to look at our grandchildren and say that we acted and that we reported’ Cadman ended.

Conference of Parties
During the opening remarks several Mayors expressed their concern with what they called ‘the Copenhagen failure’ during COP 15 in November last year. Mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoë, even meant it was a failure for the whole humanity and stressed the need to ensure that ‘Cancun won’t be such a failure as Copenhagen’. He argued that the agreement is a symbol of the cities’ hopes brought to COP16 in Cancun in two weeks by the mayor of Mexico City. The pact is a massage of solidarity between cities, he proceeded. Ebrard agreed and concluded that (..) ‘we require much more decisive action this year during COP16 and we need to open the door for more energetic change. The risk is ‘now’ if it continues’.

But expecting that the international politicians’ leadership, willingness and ability to handle complex and global challenges will be much different during COP16 than it was last year is probably unrealistic. The Danish independent think tank Monday Morning states that the expectations of any results in Cancun are so low that the Conference of Parties only can be a positive surprise, but not in any way produce results that will approximate solving the accelerating climate change.

Maybe Delgado had that in mind when she stressed that cities have great capacities to address climate change, even in the absence of a binding treaty among nations. At the same time Cadman pointed out that ‘The Copenhagen Accord’ (final, and not legally binding, document drafted by the end of COP15) only had national commitments that were parallel and the same as what 300 cities all over the world already had agreed on. Delgado closes with the argument that The Mexico City Pact is a demonstration of the leadership of mayors and cities around the world to take action.

At sustainablecities.dk we are excited to see commitment expressed by local leaders from all over the world and find it encouraging that they do not seem to have the same fear of contact with the global subject of climate change as the national politicians are expected to have in Cancun. However the pact is still a voluntary agreement and at best it serves as a desire to assume reductions.

Facts:
138 cities signed The Mexico City Pact during Sunday 21. November 2010. The pact is intended to: 1) establish a monitoring and verification mechanism for cities to address climate change, 2) make a registry of actions already taken. Read more about The Mexico City Pact on Delanoë’s homepage HERE.

The Mexico City Pact will be presented to the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC) during COP16 in Cancun, Mexico, later this month.