Mayors of the world’s populated cities have reaffirmed on Friday their commitment to deliver on the highest ambitions of the Paris Agreement.
During Global Climate Action Summit (GCAS) in San Francisco, cities are committing to the specific climate action and policies to help temperature rise to below 1.5 celsius.
Twelve cities; Birmingham, Greater Manchester, Honolulu, Medellin, Oslo, Oxford, Rotterdam, Santa Monica, Seoul, Tokyo, Warsaw and West Hollywood, which representing more than 140 million urban citizens, have committed to deliver a zero emission mobility future.
In addition, these cities join 14 others already committed to Green and Healthy Streets: Paris, London, Los Angeles, Copenhagen, Barcelona, Quito, Vancouver, Cape Town, Seattle, Mexico City, Auckland, Milan, Rome and Heidelberg.
'More than 80,000 buses run on the streets of these 26 cities, representing a major shift towards zero emission vehicles in the world’s great cities,' according to GCAS.
Studies of the air quality in these cities reveal that the policies announced Friday could prevent 11,000 premature deaths per year.
Meanwhile, these cities and regions have pledged to cut the amount of waste generated by each citizen 15 percent by 2030 by signing C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group's (C40) Advancing Towards Zero Waste Declaration.
They are also expected to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfills and incineration by 50 percent and increase the diversion rate to 70 percent by 2030.
'Together these 25 cities and regions, representing 150 million citizens, will reduce the amount of waste disposed by at least 132 million tons by 2030,' GCAS said.
By Gulsen Cagatay in San Francisco
Anadolu Agency
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