Collaborative city greening is gaining international momentum, most recently with the signing of the Global Cities Covenant on Climate by more than 135 mayors attending the World Mayors Summit on Climate, held on Nov. 21 in Mexico City. Also at the summit, the World Mayors Council on Climate Change launched a web-based city climate registry, a mechanism for municipalities to ensure “transparency and accountability of local climate action,” according to the WMC.
The actions in Mexico City come on the heels of a Low-Carbon Cities for High-Quality Living workshop, held Nov. 5-6 in Hong Kong and organized by another mayors’ consortium, the C-40 Climate Leadership Group. C-40, made up of 40 big-city mayors from around the globe, is bent on providing a network for sharing best practices for reducing greenhouse-gas emissions in urban areas. At the C-40 meeting, New York City’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg took over as chairman for a two-year stint.