Cities that encourage the building of green roofs include....
(Photos: Above - Vancouver Airport by MamaKitten and above right - Roof of Chicago City Hall by City of Chicago)



FRONT PAGE
SiteSearch
About u
s | Quiénes somos
How good is your Mayor?
Directories
Events
Debate


Germany's greenest cities
Green mayors
Green cities initiative
Greenhouse gas emissions
Urban energy saving (USA)
Green finance
Urban ecological footprint
Scottish Green energy
Toronto's Rouge Park
Africa's water crisis
Gas drilling in eastern US cities
Cities' green policies
US cities to go green
Cities and biodiversity
North America's greenest cities
Europe's greenest cities
Mexico City's Green Plan
Mexico City garbage disposal
Sustainable communities
Liveable cities
Saving energy by using contrast
Great Lakes initiative
Issues facing megacities
Dubai & Shanghai development
Pros and cons of biofuels
Smart growth in US cities
Greenest US cities
Green schools
US mayors agree on Kyoto
Most polluted US cities
Sustainable communities
under threat


City Mayors reports news from towns and cities around the world. Worldwide | Elections | North America | Latin America | Europe | Asia | Africa |


City Mayors ranks the world’s largest, best as well as richest cities and urban areas. It also ranks the cities in individual countries, and provides a list of the capital cities of some 200 sovereign countries. More


City Mayors profiles city leaders from around the world. More


City Mayors describes the history, architecture and politics of the greatest city halls in the world. More


Mayors from The Americas, Europe. Asia, Australia and Africa compete for the World Mayor Award. More


Use
Mayor Monitor to rate the performance of mayors from across the world More


In your opinion: Praise Criticise. Write


City Mayors reports political events, analyses the issues and depicts the main players. More


City Mayors describes and explains the structures and workings of local government in Europe, The Americas, Asia, Australia and Africa. More


City Mayors deals with economic and investment issues affecting towns and cities. More


City Mayors describes and explains financial issues affecting local government. More


City Mayors reports urban environmental developments and examines the challenges faced by cities worldwide. More


City Mayors reports on and discusses urban development issues in developed and developing countries. More


City Mayors reports on developments in urban society and behaviour and reviews relevant research. More


City Mayors invites readers to write about the people in their cities. More


City Mayors examines city brands and marketing. More


City Mayors lists and features urban events, conferences and conventions aimed at urban decision makers and those with an interst in cities worldwide. More



City Mayors deals with urban transport issues in developed and developing countries and features the world’s greatest metro systems. More


City Mayors examines education issues and policies affecting children and adults in urban areas. More


City Mayors investigates health issues affecting urban areas with an emphasis on health in cities in developing countries. More


City Mayors reports on how business developments impact on cities and examines cooperation between cities and the private sector. More


City Mayors examines the contributions history and culture make to urban society and environment. More


City Mayors examines the importance of urban tourism to city economies. More


City Mayors questions those who govern the world’s cities and talks to men and women who contribute to urban society and environment. More


City Mayors profiles national and international organisations representing cities as well as those dealing with urban issues. More


City Mayors reports on major national and international sporting events and their impact on cities. More


City Mayors lists cities and city organisations, profiles individual mayors and provides information on hundreds of urban events. More


European and US mayors take
lead in tackling global warming

By Brian Baker, Senior Correspondent

23 March 2009: Mayors have led cities large and small in actions to tackle global warming at local level. These efforts have been linked in the United States since 2005 and since 2008 in the European Union too. In the US this was a bottom-up intervention, which sought to connect cities to the Kyoto Protocol even though the Bush administration refused to sign it.

An initiative by Seattle mayor Greg Nickels in 2004 called on mayors across the country to action to coincide with the February 2005 date when the Kyoto Treaty came into legal force in those nations, which signed it. This attracted an immediate response and led to the adoption by the US Conference of Mayors in June 2005 of a climate protection agreement calling for a seven per reduction by 2012 from 1990 emissions levels. By then, there were already 161 signatories.

The agreement also calls on Congress to pass emissions reduction legislation and commits mayors to press their state government and the federal government to enact policies, which will contribute to meeting the Kyoto target. The agreement has been supported since 2007 by the Mayors Climate Protection Center, which was established to help meet the needs of mayors who signed the agreement notably for guidance and assistance.

By March 2009 there were 935 signatories from cities, which contain around 84 million people in all. This is a high proportion of the urban population in the US though some notably high carbon footprint cities remain absent. These include sprawling places Oklahoma City, North Las Vegas, Glendale, Houston and Corpus Christie.

In the EU area local government action to reduce carbon emissions in their localities has been linked up within several nation states and supported by EU programmes but it was not until 2007 that a process began to evolve a more structured connectivity on the issue. Following the launch in 2007 of the Leipzig Charter on Sustainable Cities the European Commission launched a top down initiative in 2008, which drew initial support from just over 100 mayors.

The Covenant of Mayors initiative, which commits signatory cities to exceed the EU wide governmental commitment to a reduction of 20 per cent in emissions by 2020, attracted widespread support in its first year. At a signing ceremony in Brussels in February 2009 during the annual EU Sustainable Energy Week events it was revealed that leaders of over 370 cities and towns across the EU had now signed up.

All of these must produce a sustainable action plan by early 2010. Arrangements have been put in place for the external evaluation of the cities performance. The European Commission attempted to create a pot of funding for city initiatives to cut their emissions as part of the EU wide stimulus package, which takes effect during 2009 but the national governments deleted the budget line.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is proposing a specific loan programme for city initiatives. Although a modest 15 million euros is planned for 2009 they have urged city regions to take opportunities in their existing programmes for renewable energy and sustainable transport.

In February 2009, for example, the EIB approved a 200 million euro loan to Poitou Charentes Region in France for its plans to install photo voltaic panels on public, commercial and industrial buildings.

At its annual Forum on 13 March 2009 the EIB confirmed the urban emphasis of its efforts to assist in measures to combat carbon emissions.

EIB President Philippe Maystadt said: “urban scale projects can be implemented fairly quickly because they are often relatively small and easy to define.”

“The Bank fully supports the Covenant of Mayors initiative and is working closely with the Commission to provide technical assistance measures in this area,” he said. “The Energy Efficiency in Public Buildings initiative and the CleanBus Finance Facility are two important examples of measures being developed in this field.”

In the US, there has been no structured link between the Mayors climate protection agreement and the Federal Government. This may change in 2009 under the Obama administration. The December 2009 UN brokered summit in Copenhagen on successor global agreements after Kyoto expires may be a critical factor.

The signatory cities have pledged to adopt climate friendly policies across all their activities. Some cities do have structural arrangements with the state administrations. Monitoring and external evaluation of the performance of mayors and their cities is patchy in the US but most have integrated the commitment into policy making and practice across all their organisation’s activities.

Land-use planning is very significant in US cities because of the low-density detached housing development which was generally approved in the second half of the 20th century. Several cities have focussed on their vehicle fleets and switched to electric, gas and clean diesel powered alternatives.

Signatory cities are raising their building standards for new buildings though the issue of existing buildings remains a problem. The agreement expects signatory cities to only purchase equipment and appliances, which meet the standards of the USEPA Energy Star rating.

It is the less measurable elements, which are most important and challenging in both continents. Winning over public opinion to drive individual behaviour change is an on-going priority for mayors and administrations. Increasing recycling rates and opportunities is often seen as key to this.

Culture and past behaviour is a particular influence. Whilst in the US sprawl has embedded behaviours generated by low density, in the former Soviet sphere of influence an assumption that energy is plentiful and there to be used is deeply held. Riga, Latvia, Mayor Janis Birks says: “citizens locked in to the Soviet way of thinking pay little attention to efficiency measures such as better insulation in homes. Riga has leant a lot on energy efficiency measures from the Nordic countries.”

World Mayor 2023