Monday, February 18, 2008

New York City's Mayor Bloomberg Adresses UN General Assembly on the Importance of Climate Change

The UN General Assembly held a high-level discussion on climate change at United Nations headquarters last week. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon opened the 3-day meeting on Monday, February 11 saying that if 2007 was the year when climate change rose to the top of the global agenda - with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change making it clear that climate change was already happening and accelerating - then 2008 was the time for concerted action to follow up on the powerful declarations of political will voiced at the Bali Climate Change Conference last December. In Bali, countries agreed to launch negotiations on a new international climate change agreement by the end of 2009. “The challenge is huge. We have less than two years to craft an agreement on action that measures up to what the science tells us. It will have to map out emission limitation commitments; agree on essential action to adapt to the impacts of climate change; and mobilize the necessary financing and technological innovations.” New York's Mayor Bloomberg also addressed the UN General Assembly, expressing his pleasure at having participated in the Climate Change Convention in Bali and saying that, between now and the planned Copenhagen meeting at the end of 2009, both developed and developing nations must resolve to change their policies - and that the world’s cities must be an important part of those changes. For effective results, he said targets for reducing carbon emissions must be imposed and the United States must take a leadership role in that area by imposing a carbon tax. “Serious carbon targets will not hamper growth and would make us all better off.” He said the targets must be ambitious, but also achievable, adding that New York City had shown the way through its “Plan NYC”, which envisions reducing carbon emissions by 30 per cent by 2030. The United States could do the same with zero cost, because of the efficiencies and opportunities involved. More than 700 cities in the United States are currently trying to meet the challenges of reducing urban pollution and challenging climate change, and enlisting private-sector companies in the cause as well. www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2008/ga10687.doc.htm http://www.un.org/ga/president/62/ThematicDebates/statements/bloombergspeech.shtml

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