United to Address Climate Change
SEPTEMBER 1-2, 2016 - Mayors and senior city representatives from over 30 cities convened in Seoul, Republic of Korea, for the “Seoul Mayors Forum on Climate Change 2016 - Local Climate Commitments in Raising the Ambitions of the Paris Agreement.” The event was organized by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and ICLEI. As a whole, the program highlighted how local government coalitions, specifically the Compact of Mayors and the newly formed Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy, link to the Paris Climate Agreement and the soon to be adopted New Urban Agenda. UCLG ASPAC Secretary General Bernadia Irawati Tjandradewi moderated the Mayoral Session on “Implementation of Paris Agreement – What can cities and local governments do?” She was joined in the panel by six (6) local leaders from Catbalogan, Makati, Thimphu, Ansan, Guiyang, and Taichung who shared their local government’s actions on climate change adaptation and mitigation and showed the importance of understanding the impacts of climate change in one’s own city. The local leaders also expressed their needs around financing, information, and capacity building among others, that will support their actions to address climate change. The Forum culminated with a Seoul Communiqué, delivered by Seoul’s Mayor Park Won Soon. The Seoul Communiqué represents the commitment
of 34 cities and towns to climate action and urged nations to raise the ambitions and meet targets to achieve global climate goals. Specifically, to immediately ratify the Paris Agreement and solidify their consent to be bound to the agreement in order for it to have legal force. Launched by UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon and his Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change, Michael R. Bloomberg, under the leadership of the world’s global city networks – C40, ICLEI and UCLG and supported by UN-Habitat, the Compact of Mayors – now with a commitment from more than 500 cities and local governments around the world - creates platform to apprehend impacts of cities’ collective actions through standardized measurement of emissions and climate risk, and consistent, public reporting of their efforts. Compact of Mayors determines that local actions can deliver global impact.