C40 goals for UNFCCC

Engage Empower Resource

National governments met in Copenhagen in December 2009 for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change conference - COP15. The Conference was a milestone on the road to negotiating a replacement treaty to the Kyoto Protocol.

The C40 worked with the city of Copenhagen to organise the Copenhagen Climate Summit for Mayors that took place alongside the UN Climate Change Conference. Representatives from 80 cities, including 55 Mayors, gathered together at the summit.

While climate change demands global action, cities demonstrated that they are not waiting for others to act. The cities showed that they are on the frontline of taking action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. For further details about the summit please visit: http://www.climatesummitformayors.dk/

Why we need action

Home to half the world’s population and growing rapidly, cities consume over two-thirds of the world’s energy and account for more than 70 percent of global CO2 emissions.

The battle to prevent catastrophic climate change will be won or lost in our cities.

The C40 Large Cities Climate Leadership Group is a group of the world's leading cities committed to tackling climate change.

We have already demonstrated leadership and concrete action on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but on our own we can only go so far.

national governments must recognise the crucial role cities can play in delivering national targets and stopping climate change.

National Governments need to:

• Engage more closely with their city leaders, whose responsibility for critical services mean they are best placed to deliver GHG emissions reductions.
• Empower their city leaders so that where necessary they have the authority required to take action within cities to drive down GHG emissions.
• Resource their cities so that they are equipped with the relevant tools, services and finance to help deliver national targets.