C40 Cities and R20 Regions of Climate Action agree to work together to ensure implementation of the Paris Agreement.
Paris, France (28 April 2017) — Organisations led by the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo and former Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, two of the world’s most powerful advocates for action on climate change, have committed to work together to implement the Paris Agreement. C40 and R20, organisations representing the most powerful cities, states and regions of the world including Paris, London, Mexico City, California, British Columbia and Gujurat State in India, have agreed to collaborate to tackle climate change.
C40 and R20 will collaborate across a range of issues, including accessing finance for climate action projects.
A key priority for the partnership will be to help foster the next generation of women climate leaders. C40’s Women4Climate initiative will concretely empower the next generation of women leaders who will create a better tomorrow. This will be delivered through a mentorship scheme benefitting hundreds of young women leaders in cities around the world, new research on the impact of climate change on women in cities and ambitious events to showcase the thought leadership achievements of women leaders in climate. R20 recently launched a green-fund for women to provide financial support for the actions of companies, start-ups and green SMEs run by women around the world. Such complementary projects will be part of the collaboration between C40 and R20.
Anne Hidalgo is Mayor of Paris and Chair of C40, a network of 90 of the world’s greatest cities committed to action on climate change. Mayors of C40 cities represent 650 million urban citizens and more than 25% of global GDP.
“C40’s groundbreaking Deadline 2020 report revealed the scale and urgency of the challenge ahead in realizing the ambition of the Paris Agreement,” said Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris and Chair of C40. “Governor Schwarzenegger, showed just how much states and regions could deliver in tackling climate change during his tenure in California. I am delighted that the 90 great cities of the world that make up the C40 network and the regions of the R20 will now work together to deliver on this most urgent challenge.”
Arnold Schwarzenegger was Governor of California from 2003-2011, and is the Founding Chair of R20, which helps sub-national governments around the world to develop and communicate low-carbon and climate resilient economic development projects.
“It is no longer certain that nations will live up to the commitments they made in the Paris Agreement,” said Arnold Schwarzenegger, former Governor of California and Founding Chair of R20. “Fortunately states, regions cities and the private sector are stepping up to provide the leadership the world needs. Thanks to powerful mayors like Anne Hidalgo in Paris, we will get the job done.”
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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 @c40citiesand like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/
About R20 Regions of Climate Action
R20 Regions of Climate Action is a non-profit organization founded in 2010 by former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and other global leaders in cooperation with the United Nations. The President of R20 is Mrs. Michèle Sabban.
R20 is a coalition of partners led by regional governments that work to promote and implement projects that are designed to produce local economic and environmental benefits in the form of reduced energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions; strong local economies; improved public health; and new green jobs. These local actions can help the world achieve our shared global environmental and economic goals.
For more information visit http://regions20.org,