Former New York mayor and billionaire philanthropist Michael Bloomberg, now in a new United Nations job, has said that cities hold the key to confronting climate change.
Mr Bloomberg said this was because they account for 75 per cent of heat-trapping gases and their mayors have executive powers to reduce emissions.
The newsagency Associated Press (AP) reports the three-term mayor was a keynote speaker at the opening of a three-day UN meeting on making urban areas more liveable, sustainable, economically successful and environmentally friendly.
These areas are where about 70 per cent of the world’s population is expected to live by 2050.
In January UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed Mr Bloomberg as special envoy for cities and climate change.
Mr Bloomberg urged cities to act urgently to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that are driving climate change and “climate risks” such as flooding, and he encouraged all governments to empower their cities to take climate actions.
“Those actions will save lives, they’ll strengthen and protect the national economies, they’ll make cities more healthy and economically vibrant and together they’ll make a difference in the global fight against climate change,” Mr Bloomberg said.
AP reports he pointed to a 19 per cent reduction in New York’s heat-trapping carbon dioxide emissions in six years and the city’s cleanest air in 50 years as a result of measures including eliminating the dirtiest heating oil from buildings and planting 800,000 new trees.
He said other cities have had similar results including London, Lagos and Johannesburg.
Mr Ban told hundreds of government officials and mayors that “too many cities face challenges including weak infrastructure, unemployment and pollution.”
At the same time, he said, “climate change is increasing risks in all cities, where the poorest people are hit the hardest.”
AP reports that Joan Clos, the executive director of UN-Habitat, said at the beginning of the 19th century only two per cent of the world’s population lived in urban areas and at the start of the 20th century, only 10 per cent was urban.
However, the number of urban-dwellers had now passed 50 per cent, and the UN predicted increasing growth, especially in developing countries, he said.
While urbanisation has raised hundreds of millions of people out of extreme poverty, Mr Clos said, close to one billion people currently live in slums, which was “proof that we still have a lot to do to improve urban life.”
He said well-designed urban areas, not spontaneous or badly planned ones, are essential if cities are to remain centres of education, innovation, and economic growth.
