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by Dan Shepard, Information Officer, UN DPI
There might have been snow and sleet in New York today, but looking casual and relaxed, New York City Mayor Bloomberg came to the Bali Climate Conference to sign a pledge by world mayors to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 60-80 per cent of 1990 levels by 2050. London Deputy Mayor Nicky Gavron joined Bloomberg in signing the pledge.
Bringing a taste of New York to Bali, Bloomberg said people like to leave conferences with real deliverables. He called said in the "real world," processes "that change the world evolutionary rather than revolutionary," and says cities were already taking major strides forward to deal with the issue. It is important that people around the world see that governments understand that there is an issue and a healthy debate about what to do to solve the problems and who will pay and how fast to do it and what order to do it is part of the process that will lead us in the right direction."
Mayors, he adds, are the one who are held accountable to their public everyday on a wide range of issues, from improving public health and encouraging economic growth. As a result, Bloomberg says, cities should be given more say in a convention like this because in the end we're the ones for most of the changes that will actually have to do the work.