AUSTRALIA 
Cities pledge action on climate change
Friday, 24 October, 2008
Promoting solar energy and tracking genetically modified foods are just some of measures taken by leaders of 40 of the world's major cities in their pledge to fight climate change.
Warning that crowded urban areas were especially susceptible to the planet's rising temperatures, city officials said they needed to take the lead in adapting to climate change.
Toronto Mayor David Miller, the chairman of the C40 climate initiative of cities, said "very important actions are taking place by mayors who act," after two days of talks in Tokyo.
"The focus of this conference was adaptation and particularly on measures that support adapting to climate change that is already occurring," Miller said.
40 cities are part of the C40 including Beijing, London, New Delhi, New York, Paris and Sydney, with city planners from 32 of them took part in the Tokyo talks.
The cities charted out 13 areas for action to prevent the "urban heat island effect," in which temperatures tend to rise in crowded metropolitan areas.
Wind, solar energy
The ideas include expanding green space in urban areas and building corridors to allow more wind and water to come into cities.
The city planners also pledged to look into renewable energies such as solar power and to introduce water retentive pavements. The widespread use of concrete is a key reason that cities absorb heat more than rural areas.
Another idea is to regulate genetically modified (GM) food and monitor the effects on global warming.
Advocates of GM food say it can solve food shortages in poor nations but critics say the crops' effects on health and the environment are untested.
Under the plan, each city can choose which of the 13 areas it wants to pursue to fight climate change.
The cities that will monitor genetically modified food include Addis Ababa, Hong Kong,
Tokyo and Toronto.
Next May’s C40 "climate summit" in Seoul will see concrete action taken by world leaders to tackle the pressing climate change issue.
Source: AFP
Warning that crowded urban areas were especially susceptible to the planet's rising temperatures, city officials said they needed to take the lead in adapting to climate change.
Toronto Mayor David Miller, the chairman of the C40 climate initiative of cities, said "very important actions are taking place by mayors who act," after two days of talks in Tokyo.
"The focus of this conference was adaptation and particularly on measures that support adapting to climate change that is already occurring," Miller said.
40 cities are part of the C40 including Beijing, London, New Delhi, New York, Paris and Sydney, with city planners from 32 of them took part in the Tokyo talks.
The cities charted out 13 areas for action to prevent the "urban heat island effect," in which temperatures tend to rise in crowded metropolitan areas.
Wind, solar energy
The ideas include expanding green space in urban areas and building corridors to allow more wind and water to come into cities.
The city planners also pledged to look into renewable energies such as solar power and to introduce water retentive pavements. The widespread use of concrete is a key reason that cities absorb heat more than rural areas.
Another idea is to regulate genetically modified (GM) food and monitor the effects on global warming.
Advocates of GM food say it can solve food shortages in poor nations but critics say the crops' effects on health and the environment are untested.
Under the plan, each city can choose which of the 13 areas it wants to pursue to fight climate change.
The cities that will monitor genetically modified food include Addis Ababa, Hong Kong,
Tokyo and Toronto.
Next May’s C40 "climate summit" in Seoul will see concrete action taken by world leaders to tackle the pressing climate change issue.
Source: AFP