Mayors Sign Historic Urban Environmental
Accords
June 5, 2005
CITY LEADERS FROM AROUND THE WORLD AGREE TO TAKE SPECIFIC ACTIONS IN
SPECIAL CEREMONY AT U.N. WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY CONFERENCE
SAN FRANCISCO (June 5, 2005) -- Leaders of cities from around the
globe took the historic step of signing the Urban Environmental
Accords on Sunday in the rotunda of San Francisco City Hall in
recognition of United
Nations World Environment Day 2005.
“What we have accomplished here in San Francisco will change the
world,” said San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, host of the five-day
conference of international mayors, non-government organizations,
and businesses. “What we started here is only the beginning -- the
start of a new way of thinking about our earth, and the start
of a new global environmental grassroots movement focused on
cities.”
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom signs a international treaty
with mayors from around the world, shown in background, at San
Francisco City Hall Sunday, June 5, 2005, during the United
Nations World Environment Day Conference. The accord makes
cities more environmentally conscious that calls for boosting
use of public transportation, drastic cuts to the volume of
trash sent to landfills and ensured access to potable water. (AP
Photo/Paul Sakuma) |
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, right and Istanbul, Turkey,
Deputy Mayor Idris Gulluce, hold up an international treaty
after it was signed by mayors from around the world at San
Francisco City Hall, Sunday, June 5, 2005, during the United
Nations World Environment Day Conference. (AP Photo/Paul
Sakuma) |
In 1945, the original 50 founding delegates signed the U.N. Charter
in San Francisco. “Today, Mayor Newsom has brought together 50 of
the largest and most visionary cities on the planet to chart a new
and bold course toward
urban environmental sustainability,” said Jared Blumenfeld, director
of the San Francisco Environment Department.
One by one, each mayor stepped forward to sign the Accords document,
which sets out 21 specific actions for sustainable urban living. The
Accords address seven environmental areas common to all the world’s
large cities:
water, energy, waste, urban design, transportation, urban nature,
and environmental health.
“We the signatory Mayors have come together to write a new chapter
in the history of global cooperation,” the Accords resolve. “We
commit to promote this collaborative platform and to build an
ecologically sustainable,
economically dynamic, and socially equitable future for our urban
citizens…. By signing these Urban Accords Environmental Accords, we
commit ourselves to moving vital issues of sustainability to
the top of our legislative agendas. By implementing the Urban
Environmental Accords, we aim to realize the right to a clean,
healthy, and safe environment for all members of our society.”
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger speaks at a news conference
at the United Nations World Environment Day 2005 in San Francisco,
Wednesday, June 1, 2005. Schwarzenegger later signed an executive
order which sets goals for reducing California's emissions of
greenhouse gases. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Those signing the Accords include Jakarta, Delhi, Istanbul, London,
Seattle, Melbourne, Kampala, Zurich, Dhaka, Moscow, Rio de Janeiro,
Copenhagen, and Islamabad. Some mayors signed the Accords in advance
of the ceremony. (Full text of the Accords is available at
www.wed2005.org/3.1.php).
United Nations Environment Program Executive Director Klaus Toepfer
and U.S. Representative Nancy Pelosi, the House Minority Leader,
participated in the signing ceremonies.
After signing the Accords, the mayors walked down the steps of City
Hall to hear a 500-person gospel choir, conducted by four-time
Grammy winner Edwin Hawkins, perform a specially composed song
called “United Nations,
Together We Can.”
The Accords are the result of year-long partnership of cities, the
International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI),
the United Nations Environment Program, the University of California
at Berkeley, environmental nonprofits, and businesses. Mayors
participating in the World Environment Day conference met for five
days in Accords sessions to debate language and implementation of
the Accords, and to share best practices and ideas. The mayors
toured San Francisco’s state-of-the-art facility where 67% of all
waste generated in the city is recycled; rode zero-emission vehicles
including hydrogen fuel cell buses and a 1907 cable car, and on
Sunday walked through Muir Woods, retracing the steps of the U.N.’s
founders 60 years ago.
The conference began June 1 when California Governor Arnold
Schwarzenegger, flanked by the participating mayors, signed an
Environmental Action Plan to reduce the state’s emissions of
greenhouse gases. Surrounding World Environment Day, more than 300
community events and activities took place throughout the San
Francisco Bay Area, such as an eco-chic fashion show, a children’s
painting award, a film festival, panels, workshops, and rides in
fuel cell cars.
--
World Environment Day is a project of the United Nations Environment
Program (UNEP). Since its inception in 1972, World Environment Day
has given a human face to environmental issues, and promoted an
understanding
that communities are pivotal to changing attitudes about the
environment. UNEP provides leadership and encourages partnership in
caring for the environment by inspiring, informing, and enabling
nations and peoples to
improve their quality of life without compromising that of future
generations.
Source: unep.org
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