Tag: Rio de Janeiro

Having attended the COP22 climate talks in Marrakech, out-going C40 Chair, Mayor Eduardo Paes of Rio, and Chair-elect, Mayor Anne Hidalgo of Paris issued a joint statement welcoming continued momentum by nation states, and re-stating the commitment of city leaders to deliver the Paris Agreement.

Today, C40 Chair and Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes gave the keynote address at the Sustainable Innovation Forum at COP22 in Marrakech, where he highlighted the importance of mayors and cities in tackling climate change. Below are excerpts from his remarks: “Our work has started, but we are late. Time is running out."

The decision this week by European leaders to fast-track ratification of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change is historic. It is now certain that less than one year will have passed from the beginning of the COP21 climate negotiations in December 2015 to the moment when the Paris Agreement will come into force. These weeks and months are when the nations of the world stared over the precipice of catastrophic climate change and chose to act. By standards of international diplomacy, the ratification of the Paris Agreement has been remarkably swift. Leaders of the many nations who have ratified the deal deserve our praise and gratitude. From the biggest emitters, China, the United States and the European Union, to the smallest Island nations that are most at risk from the effects of climate change, each has recognized the scale of the threat we face and acted with commendable speed.

More than half of the world’s population lives in urban areas (by 2050 this number is expected to rise to two thirds) and cities are responsible for more than 70 percent of global energy related carbon dioxide emissions.