Chinese megacities Dalian and Chengdu have joined the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, affirming the commitment of the cities and their Mayors Xiao Shengfeng and Tang Liangzhi to tackling climate change. The move by two more Chinese megacities reveals the determination of mayors to create low carbon and resilient economies, in support of the Chinese government’s commitments to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
Dalian and Chengdu’s entry to C40 brings the number of C40 cities worldwide to 85, representing more than 650 million people worldwide. Nine Chinese cities are currently members of C40: Beijing, Chengdu, Dalian, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Nanjing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Wuhan.
Dalian is a major port city of Liaoning Province in northeast China and a leader in the northeast economic zone. Home to seven million people, Dalian is building an international shipping centre, a logistic centre and a regional financial centre to serve northeast Asia. Dalian will host the “Summer Davos” World Economic Forum in 2017.
Chengdu is a megacity in central west of China with a permanent population exceeding fifteen million. In recent years Chengdu has committed to green, circular and low carbon development. The city has developed comprehensive low-carbon urban building, transportation and industry programmes. In addition, Chengdu encourages citizens to adopt green consumption patterns and low-carbon lifestyles, in order to actively advance the effort against climate change.
The announcement was made at The Second China-U.S. Climate-Smart Low-Carbon Cities Summit in Beijing, where mayors of Chinese and American cities, including Boston and Beijing have come together to share ideas and best practices on tackling climate change. The United States and China signed the Paris Agreement on April 22nd and have committed to take their respective domestic steps in order to join the Agreement as early as possible in 2016. The efforts made by US and Chinese cities over the next five years will be crucial in securing a low carbon and climate safe future.
“Dalian is honoured to become part of the C40 network,” said Dalian Mayor Xiao Shengfeng. “Our city can now share its achievements in sustainable development with the great cities of the world and learn from others to promote the global efforts in climate change and sustainable development.”
“Chengdu has always been a pioneer city in low carbon development in China. Chengdu boasts certain key projects in clean energy utilization, urban low-carbon transportation system construction and international low-carbon cooperation,” says Tang Liangzhi, the Mayor of Chengdu: “Chengdu looks forward to increasing its exchange and cooperation with C40’s global partners in order to tackle climate change around the globe.
“The addition of Dalian and Chengdu to C40 shows the commitment of these cities to securing a low carbon and liveable future for their citizens,” said C40 Chair and Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes. “It has been a priority of my chairmanship to bring more cities into the C40 Network from China and I look forward to working with Mayor Xiao Shengfeng and Mayor Tang Liangzhi, as well as the seven other Chinese cities in C40 to secure a sustainable future for all.”
“American and Chinese cities, like Boston, Chengdu and Dalian are now leading the world in responding to climate change,” said C40 Vice-Chair and Mayor of Boston Marty Walsh, attending the Summit in Beijing. “It is a pleasure to welcome Chengdu and Dalian to the C40 cities network and we look forward to sharing ideas and working together in the years ahead.”