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An organisation called C40, comprising mayors from Addis Ababa to Toronto, convened in New York on 16 May to address ways of minimising the impact of global warming and climate change – pressing issues that threaten to significantly alter life on earth that heads of state seem unable or unwilling to tackle.

“National governments still struggle to agree a way forward on global warming, but cities, which are responsible for around three quarters of global greenhouse gas emissions, are today demonstrating the leadership and decisive action necessary to prevent catastrophic climate change,” London mayor Ken Livingston told reporters.

Not surprisingly, the eco-friendly Livingston, whose congestion charge plan is now being adopted in major cities across the world, chaired the event.



A few days in New York, far away from their voters, appeared to have an inspiring impact on the group. They immediately zeroed in on the one object that makes cities, well, cities: tall buildings.

Buildings, it turns out, are chronic polluters. According to C40's environmental experts, buildings account for nearly 40 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions; in New York and London, this figure is closer to 70 per cent of these cities’ total carbon emissions.

Under an initiative called “Energy Efficiency Building Retrofit Program” unveiled by former U.S. President Bill Clinton and backed by some of the world’s largest financial institutions, including ABN Amro and Citigroup, 15 of the world’s largest cities will begin retrofitting their skyscrapers to reduce carbon emissions. The first cities to sign up include: Bangkok, Berlin, Chicago, Houston, Johannesburg, Karachi, London, Melbourne, Mexico City, New York, Rome, Sao Paulo, Seoul, Tokyo, and Toronto.

Read page two.

Published on 31 May 2007