Clinton and Livingstone form climate change alliance
Clinton and Livingstone form climate change alliance
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Wednesday, 02, Aug 2006 08:22
London mayor Ken Livingstone and former US president Bill Clinton have announced a new partnership to reduce carbon emissions and increase the efficiency of cities across the world.
The pair launched the Clinton Climate Initiative in California yesterday along with Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and his San Francisco counterpart Gavin Newsom.
The partnership is between the Clinton Climate Initiative and the Large Cities Climate Leadership Group, chaired by Mr Livingstone.
The latter is a body comprised of city leaders who pledge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
"It no longer makes sense for us to debate whether or not the earth is warming at an alarming rate, and it doesn't make sense for us to sit back and wait for others to act," said Mr Clinton.
"The fate of the planet that our children and grandchildren will inherit is in our hands, and it is our responsibility to do something about this crisis.
"The partnership between my foundation and the Large Cities Climate Leadership Group will take practical and, most importantly, measurable steps toward helping to slow down global warming, and by taking this approach I think we can make a big difference."
Mr Livingstone said: "There is no bigger task for humanity than to avert catastrophic climate change. The world's largest cities can have a major impact on this.
"Already they are at the centre of developing the technologies and innovative new practices that provide hope that we can radically reduce carbon emissions. Our aim is simple - to change the world."
Concretely, the initiative aims to lower the cost of energy saving products in cities and boost the development of new energy saving and greenhouse gas reducing technologies and products.
It aims to seek the counsel of experts to boost energy efficiency and establish common measurement tools to allow cities to set a baseline on greenhouse gas emissions.
The alliance will also look to introduce more energy efficient traffic and street lighting as well as building codes ensuring more effective insulation.
The partnership has participants from 22 of the largest cities, including Berlin, Buenos Aires, New Delhi, Mexico City and Sao Paulo.