The Global Climate Action Summit C40), aims to raise awareness around a reality affecting all countries of the world regarding the emission of polluting gases, the management of waste, the protection of water and the promotion of a life in harmony with the environment.
Cities are key to fight damages caused by climate change. In this sense, C40 is a group made up by 96 cities (12 Latin American) representing 700 million people, working towards the creation of a knowledge and public policies platform which allow the implementation of the historic Paris agreement.
The mayor of Medellín, Federico Gutiérrez Zuluaga is a member of the C40 Steering Committee and representative of the Latin America chapter together with the Intendant of Santiago de Chile, Karla Rubilar. Medellín stands out as a city determined to fight climate change through strategic actions for sustainable mobility.
Medellín, in addition to actively participate in the general activities of C40, is part of the Deadline 2020 Declaration and the subnets of: 1) mobility, pedestrians and bicycles; 2) territorial planning; 3) air quality; 4) climate change and; 5) solid waste management. Also, in February 2018, the city joined the Declaration of Green and Healthy Streets, free of fossil fuels.
This year, as a member of the C40 Steering Committee, Medellín has three fundamental objectives:
-
- To look over the challenges for Latin America.
- To create an academic space about C40 at the World Cities Summit 2019 to be held in Medellín from July 10 to 12.
- To commit with two C40 statements:
- Carbon-free buildings: committing to be a neutral city in the greenhouse gases emission by 2050.
- Equity commitment: To distribute the environmental, social and economic benefits derived from the C40 plans implemented in Medellin throughout the population.
Which actions has Medellín developed supported by C40?
- The following stand out:
- To make an inventory of the greenhouse gases under the global protocol for community-scale Greenhouse gas emission inventories, fulfilling this commitment for the C40 cities.
- To support and enrollment of the C40 Network into the “Pact for air quality of Medellín.”
- To strengthen the electric mobility strategy.
The key role of the Mayor of Medellín in C40
On September 12 at the Steering Committee meeting in the San Francisco City Hall, the Mayor will have the opportunity to show the progress made by Medellín in terms of environmental protection and, also, will support the C40 expansion strategy to reach more cities in the world.
During the press conference on September 13, the Mayor will briefly present the initiatives of Medellin related to the environmental protection. Later, in the same day at 1:30 pm, he will join the presentation Green and Healthy Streets: a transition to zero-emissions transport , there, he will be part of the panel New signatory cities of the Green and Healthy Streets Declaration in which he will speak together with the mayor of Rotterdam, Ahmed Aboutaleb and the mayor of Warsaw, Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz, about the pollution-free public transport systems and the actions taken by the current administration in sustainable mobility as the integrated transport system, human mobility (bicycles and pedestrians) and green corridors.
The Green Corridors, the construction of new bike paths, the acquisition of electric buses and the comprehensive management of solid waste are some key projects of the local administration.
Leave a Reply