Mayors of 52 of the world’s greatest cities representing more than 275 million citizens, have raised the pressure on G20 leaders to address climate change at their Summit this weekend.
This powerful group of mayors, all members of the C40 network, released a joint statement urging leaders of the world’s richest nations to work with cities to “save our planet.” They warned, “given the US intention to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, the resolve of the other 19 leaders at the upcoming G20 Summit to safeguard the future of our planet is more important than ever.”
More than 40,000 people from around the world have now signed a petition, inspired by the mayors’ statement, demanding action from G20 leaders.
Several pioneering cities, including Paris, Warsaw, Buenos Aires, Copenhagen, Stockholm and Mexico City have brought the campaign to their streets with a major billboard advertising campaign.
C40 also joined a unique coalition of cities, states and regions, businesses and investors pledging to implement the Paris Agreement and calling on G20 leaders to accelerate climate action at their Summit in Hamburg. This group representing networks covering over 1.2 billion people, more than one-third of global economy and nearly 400 global investors with over $22 trillion in assets, identify the Paris Agreement as the fastest route to prosperity, productivity, safety and health.
Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris and Chair of C40, has also released a video statement, which will be shown at the G20 Summit, bringing the voice of mayors and citizens directly to the G20:
“We, mayors of the world's largest cities, urge G20 leaders to act now for the planet and deliver on the goals of the Paris Agreement. This requires a bold action: urgent reforms are needed in energy, transport, food and waste. This is why, with mayors from the most important cities of the world, we launched a petition on Change.org to send our message to the G20 leaders. Are you ready to save the planet?”
