World mayors at Vatican seek ‘bold climate agreement’

Some 60 mayors selected because they support Pope Francis’ environmental message gathered on Tuesday at the Vatican for a two-day conference to keep the pressure on world leaders ahead of the Paris negotiations in December. 

Francis last month released an environmental encyclical that denounced what he calls a fossil fuel-based world economy that exploits the poor and destroys the Earth.  The mayors are expected to sign a declaration later on Tuesday that states that “human-induced climate change is a scientific reality and its effective control is a moral imperative for humanity,” according to the final declaration seen by The Associated Press.

In his remarks to the meeting, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced new greenhouse gas emissions targets for the Big Apple and urged other cities to follow suit. “The Paris summit is just months away,” De Blasio said.

“We need to see it as the finish line of a sprint, and take every local action we can in the coming months to maximize the chance that our national governments will act boldly.” 

De Blasio is a founding member of an alliance of cities around the world that have committed to reducing their emissions by 80 per cent by 2050 or sooner.

He said New York was taking an interim step, committing to reducing its emissions by 40 per cent by 2030. The climax of today’s inaugural session was an afternoon audience with Pope Francis, who has become a hero to the environmental movement and has used his moral authority and enormous popularity to focus world attention on climate change and its effects on the poor.

Francis’ other main priority has been to raise awareness about human trafficking.

The Vatican conference is aimed at showing how both are related: The exploitation of the Earth and its most vulnerable people, with global warming often responsible for creating “environmental refugees” forced to flee homes because of drought or other climate-induced natural disasters.

“Addressing both these phenomenon, climate change and modern slavery, is a herculean task for us as city administrators,” said Tony Chammany, the mayor of Kochi, India.