Dive Brief:
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Nearly 100 major city members of C40 Cities worldwide reduced per-capita emissions by 7.5% between 2015 and 2024, according to a report that group and the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy released Monday.
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Representatives from C40 Cities, Climate Mayors, the U.S. Climate Alliance and America Is All In are attending global climate events this month to fill a void “when the U.S. federal government is stepping back from leadership on climate action,” the groups said in a joint press release.
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Climate Mayors Executive Director Kate Wright said that “despite the federal government abandoning its responsibilities on climate,” the U.S. could achieve 54% to 62% emissions reductions by 2035 “with strong climate leadership at the state and local levels.”
Dive Insight:
Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego, the chair of Climate Mayors, a bipartisan network of nearly 350 U.S. mayors, said in a statement that cities like Phoenix are on the front lines of climate change and mayors “have a unique responsibility — and opportunity — to drive meaningful solutions.”
“By partnering with other local leaders around the world, we can exchange ideas, scale innovations, and build a united front for meaningful action,” she said.
Gallego and Wright are among the delegation of U.S. mayors and climate leaders attending the United Nations Framework on Climate Change’s June Climate Meetings in Bonn, Germany; London Climate Action Week; and a Paris Agreement 10-year anniversary event, all in the second half of June.
Since the treaty was signed, global clean energy investment has increased tenfold, to $2 trillion, U.N. Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell said at the anniversary event in Bonn on Saturday.
On Jan. 20, President Donald Trump signed an executive order withdrawing the U.S. from the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change’s Paris Agreement, an international treaty on climate change 195 countries adopted in 2016.
“In recent years, the United States has purported to join international agreements and initiatives that do not reflect our country’s values or our contributions to the pursuit of economic and environmental objectives,” the executive order states.
Elizabeth Lien, program director for America Is All In, a coalition of leaders that supports climate action in the U.S., said cities, states, businesses and communities can drive change from the ground up. “International climate events like these provide an unparalleled opportunity to amplify these efforts, foster collaboration across borders, and share solutions that can accelerate progress globally,” she said in a statement.
