London, UK (05 July 2017) — Mayors of 52 of the world’s greatest cities representing more than 275 million citizens, have raised the pressure on G20 leaders to address climate change at their Summit this weekend.
This powerful group of mayors, all members of the C40 network, released a joint statement urging leaders of the world’s richest nations to work with cities to “save our planet.” They warned, “given the US intention to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, the resolve of the other 19 leaders at the upcoming G20 Summit to safeguard the future of our planet is more important than ever.”
More than 40,000 people from around the world have now signed a petition, inspired by the mayors’ statement, demanding action from G20 leaders.
Several pioneering cities, including Paris, Warsaw, Buenos Aires, Copenhagen, Stockholm and Mexico City have brought the campaign to their streets with a major billboard advertising campaign.
Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris and Chair of C40, has also released a video statement, which will be shown at the G20 Summit, bringing the voice of mayors and citizens directly to the G20:
“We, mayors of the world's largest cities, urge G20 leaders to act now for the planet and deliver on the goals of the Paris Agreement. This requires a bold action: urgent reforms are needed in energy, transport, food and waste. This is why, with mayors from the most important cities of the world, we launched a petition on Change.org to send our message to the G20 leaders. Are you ready to save the planet?”
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Notes:
All videos and images associated with this campaign and linked in this release are free to use and share.
About the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group
C40 Cities connects more than 90 of the world’s greatest cities, representing 650+ million people and one quarter of the global economy. Created and led by cities, C40 is focused on tackling climate change and driving urban action that reduces greenhouse gas emissions and climate risks, while increasing the health, wellbeing and economic opportunities of urban citizens. The current chair of the C40 is Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo; and three-term Mayor of New York City Michael R. Bloomberg serves as President of the Board. C40’s work is made possible by our three strategic funders: Bloomberg Philanthropies, Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), and Realdania. To learn more about the work of C40 and our cities, please visit www.c40.org, follow us on Twitter @c40cities or Instagram @c40cities and like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/C40Cities.