500 Euro Cities Pledge Deeper CO2 Reductions

No less than 500 cities within the EU have pledged to surpass European climate change goals, saying that they will reduce greenhouse gas emissions beyond present European aims.

The EU is seeking CO2 emissions reductions of 20 per cent under 1990 levels by 2020, but under the new terms agreed on 4 May 2010, the cities involved are now obliged to go even further though collaborating on emission reduction strategies and other initiatives.

“Smart green buildings, smart transport and logistics and, in general, the whole concept of smart cities are job-intensive activities that contribute directly to the local economy”, Jose Manuel Barroso – the President of the European Commission (EC) – stated, adding: “Crucially, they also make a positive contribution to other issues, such as social integration, quality of life, well-being, and the attractiveness of our cities.”

Covenant of Mayors: Emissions Reductions

Together, the cities signed the declaration of the Covenant of Mayors: a cooperative agreement of which each member is committed to fight climate change through achieving emissions reductions.

According to recent statistics, there are presently over 1,300 covenant members. Of these, the majority – close to 600 – are Spanish cities, and the list includes 17 EU capital cities, specifically Amsterdam, Brussels, Budapest, Bucharest, Dublin, Helsinki, Copenhagen, Lisbon, Ljubljana, London, Madrid, Paris, Riga, Rome, Stockholm, Tallinn and Warsaw.

27 UK cities feature, too, of which 23 are English.

European Climate Change: CO2 Emissions

Of the 500 Covenant of Mayors members involved in yesterday’s new European climate change pledge, close to 250 were Italian cities, and more than 100 were Spanish. Of the remaining 150, just eight were German and there was solitary British representation.

According to an EU official, the EC is set to provide millions of unallocated finance to support the introduction of climate change reduction strategies which, when put in motion, will boost the cities’ efforts to decrease CO2 emissions in coming years.