World's Mayors Gather for Their Own Climate Summit

Associated Press
COPENHAGEN -- It isn't easy getting Italy's city dwellers out of their Fiats, off their Vespa scooters and onto bicycles to ride to work.
"It isn't a matter of painting a right lane and saying, 'This is a bike lane,' " explained Emanuele Burgin, a Bologna provincial councilor. "We realize we're far away from this."
But Copenhagen's lord mayor has her problems, too. Finding enough parking space for all those bikes is just the beginning when it comes to improving the city's environmental credentials."First, we must get rid of our coal plants, and we need to get that subway expansion built," Ritt Bjerregaard said. She also wants even more Copenhageners cycling than the one-third who pedal each day to the office or school.
Ms. Bjerregaard and some 80 other mayors and local officials, including New York's Michael Bloomberg and representatives of Tokyo, Jakarta, Toronto and Hong Kong, have converged on the Danish capital in their own climate and energy summit.
They will compare notes on how to combat climate change, and save money on energy and other costs.
This five-day "cities summit," which opened Monday, will parallel the second week of the U.N. climate conference, intended to boost international efforts to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases blamed for global warming.
Today's cities and towns consume two-thirds of the world's total primary energy and produce more than 70% of its energy-related carbon-dioxide emissions, the International Energy Agency reports. Most comes from providing electricity and heating to private, commercial and municipal buildings.
In a report last week, the IEA's executive director, Nabuo Tanaka, said local authorities "have significant potential to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions" through renewable energy and other means. "Yet relatively few are taking up the challenge," he said.
Cities face many obstacles -- from extensive old infrastructure that would cost too much to replace, to political hurdles. The New York example is illustrative.
New York City last week approved legislation requiring owners of large buildings to conduct energy audits, replace insulation and take other steps toward energy efficiency. But under pressure from developers and real-estate interests, the measures were stripped of requirements for more costly improvements, such as total overhauls of heating systems and replacing windows.
Similarly, Mr. Bloomberg's efforts to cut traffic in Manhattan by charging fees to drive cars in certain neighborhoods was blocked by New York state politicians.
London succeeded where New York failed. In 2003, then-Mayor Ken Livingstone introduced a daily "congestion charge" -- the equivalent of $16 -- on cars and trucks entering the central city during business hours.
Other big cities are also trying to lead on climate. São Paulo, Brazil, for example, has by law set as a goal a 30% reduction in emissions from 2005's level by 2013. It has already achieved a 20% cut, chiefly through its new system of generating biogas for energy at landfills.
Rome's environmental chief, Paolo Giuntarelli, said his city intends to be the "first capital in Europe with an ambitious plan for energy self-sustainability." The Romans have a motivation beyond care for the environment.
"We are bidding to host the 2020 Olympics," Mr. Giuntarelli said, and Rome believes only a green city can snare that prize.
Copyright © 2009 Associated Press