By Conference Staff
January 11, 2010

The United States Conference of Mayors participated in the COP 15 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, December 7-18, 2009.

The delegation included Conference of Mayors President Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, Vice President Burnsville (MN) Mayor Elizabeth B. Kautz, Second Vice President Los Angeles Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa (CA), Past President Trenton (NJ) Mayor Douglas H. Palmer, and Conference of Mayors CEO and Executive Director Tom Cochran.

Other U.S. mayors in Copenhagen included North Little Rock (AR) Mayor Patrick Henry Hays, Des Moines (IA) Mayor T.M. Franklin Cownie, Denver Mayor John W. Hickenlooper and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Cochran said, "We went to Copenhagen to carry the message to the international community that those on the front line in climate protection – mayors of the world – must be recognized and supported for their efforts."

The Climate Summit for Mayors, held December 14-16 in Copenhagen, provided mayoral panels, roundtable discussions, and discussions to highlight various aspects of climate protection.

Leading a roundtable discussion on citizen participation, Nickels pointed out that, "The overwhelming public support for our urban climate protection commitment demonstrates tremendous energy in our local communities for solving vast global programs. In Seattle, for instance, hosts of neighborhood groups work to reduce the impact of climate change, one household at a time."

Bloomberg joined with mayors of Copenhagen, Dar Es Salaam, Buenos Aires, and Toronto to discuss action needed for effective climate change. He said, "In New York, we are going to be reducing our carbon footprint by 30 percent by 2030."

Villaraigosa served on a panel with the mayors of Sao Paulo, Mexico City, Johannesburg, London, Copenhagen, and New York to focus on the future direction of climate change efforts.

Describing efforts in his own city, he said, "In Los Angeles, we have the worst air and the worst traffic in the US. But in four short years, we have been able to increase renewables, decrease diesel emissions by 70 percent, change 144,000 lamps to LEDs, use the same amount of water as we did thirty years ago, recycle 65 percent of our trash with the goal of 70 percent, and now half of our trash trucks are clean fuel vehicles."

Palmer noted that Trenton has been one of the hardest hit cities in the global recession, with a huge unemployment problem and budget deficits. "We continue, however, to work on green initiatives, knowing that they will pay off many times over," he said.

Toronto Mayor David Miller, Chair of the C-40, an organization of the world's largest mayors, emphasized that, "The battle on climate protection will be won or lost in cities."

The U.S. Conference of Mayors hosted a major event on December 14 – a reception and buffet dinner in honor of the Lord Mayor of Copenhagen Ritt Bjerregaard.

More than 300 guests included mayors from all over the world. Cochran opened the program with a welcome to all attending and introduced Nickels, who addressed the gathering and then introduced other Conference of Mayors leaders: Kautz, Villaraigosa, and Palmer. All the U.S. mayors joined them on the stage.

Kautz gave the keynote address on December 16 to the European Union's Committee of the Regions, the EU's Assembly of Regional and Local Representatives.

Her remarks focused on how U.S. mayors have been in the forefront of climate protection efforts, even in the face of national and state government inaction. She cited the leadership of Nickels in creating the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement in 2005 and pointed out that since the initial 141 signatories, more than one thousand mayors have signed the agreement.

Kautz pointed out that U.S. mayors of cities of every size are devising their own comprehensive strategies to protect the environment.

The mayor also emphasized the importance of the Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Center, established in 2007, which has organized major national summits on climate protection, analyzes and evaluates trends in climate change, supports mayoral leadership through gathering and publishing best practices, and provides technical assistance to mayors across the country.

Kautz also discussed the important cooperation being forged with mayoral groups in other nations, such as Eurocities and the EU's Covenant of Mayors, in order to emphasize together the importance of the role of mayors in climate protection on the road to and after Copenhagen.

U.S. mayors in Copenhagen met with a number of their counterparts from across the globe. Several met with Mayor Marcelo Ebrard of Mexico City, who will host the COP 16 United Nations Climate Change Conference in December 2010. Cochran also met with him in order to find out more about plans for the next major worldwide climate conference. "We intend to follow Copenhagen by continuing to work together with mayors around the world to advance the cause of climate protection," Cochran said.