By Kay Scrimger
July 4, 2011

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon addressed the 79th Annual Meeting of The U.S. Conference of Mayors on June 19.

Conference President Burnsville (MN) Mayor Elizabeth B. Kautz, in introducing the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, pointed out that his presence was “historic” because it marked the first time that the Secretary-General of the United Nations had addressed an Annual Meeting.

U.N. Works with Mayors, “Wants to Work with You Even More Closely”

Secretary-General Ban began his remarks by saying that when he assumed his position four-and-a-half years ago, he did not expect to work so closely with mayors.

“But everywhere I turn, it seems, a mayor is there, front and center.”

Whether it has been in the increased deployment of police personnel to strengthen peacekeeping, the struggle to try to break the global deadlock in negotiations on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, or the implementation of the U.N.’s recently adopted first-ever global counter-terrorism strategy, we have drawn upon the expertise of mayors, members of your police forces, officials at seaports and airports, and organizations, such as The U.S. Conference of Mayors and Mayors for Peace, the Secretary-General said.

“The world’s cities are laboratories…crossroads and magnets…places where innovation is born — economic dynamos that produce 75 percent of world economic output. The United Nations wants to work with you even more closely than we do already.”

Two Appeals to Mayors, to Nation’s Mayors

First Appeal: Energy, Climate Change, Creating Sustainable Economies

“The world needs the mayors of the United States to do their part to address our energy and climate change challenges,” Ban said.

He praised the “great advances cities are already making toward energy efficiency, in transit, infrastructure, and street lights. You are producing and purchasing clean, renewable energy, “ he told the mayors.

Ban congratulated and thanked the Conference of Mayors and its member mayors for developing and signing the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, which commits cities to reducing carbon emissions below 1990 levels.

“The upgrades and efforts you are making save money and create well-paying local jobs. And they revitalize the economies of the cities in which they are implemented.”

“Cities around the world are leading the way,” he said.

He asked the Conference of Mayors to continue to push for success in climate negotiations. The Conference of Mayors sent delegations to Copenhagen in 2009 for the U.N. (Cop 15) Climate Protection Conference and to Mexico City in 2010 just before the Cancun Climate Protection Conference so that their voices would be heard by the heads of nations at the climate negotiations. We were glad for your presence at those meetings, and we will need you later this year, he said, in Durban, South Africa, for the next U.N. Climate Protection Conference.

“The smart money is on smart cities: resilient, energy-efficient, poised to profit from new, clean, green innovations that will redefine the urban landscape of the twenty-first century,” Ban predicted.

Second Appeal: Use Your Influence to Advocate for United Nations

The world is facing new challenges — “climate change, pandemic disease, human trafficking, food, water, and energy shortages that underscore our mutual interdependence….

“The United Nations is engaged on all these fronts….”We are facilitating political dialogue...,” and, “We are also standing firm for democracy.

He called upon the nation’s mayors to advocate for and support the United Nations.

Secretary-General emphasized: “My job is to ensure that the United Nations can live up to its goal of a better world for all—and I cannot do that without you, the mayors of the United States,” he said.

Ban concluded by saying, “I count on your help to ensure that the United States continues to engage and lead on the many global challenges facing us. I look forward to working closely with you in deepening our partnership.”