London mayor Ken Livingston has so far been the star of the show at the C40 Large Cities Climate Summit in New York, which runs through Thursday and is being hosted by former President Bill Clinton and New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Livingstone instituted a plan in 2003 to reduce traffic congestion and pollution in the city by charging motorists to enter the city center during peak periods. Despite hostile media coverage predicting certain failure, the plan has proven overwhelmingly successful with a 38 percent reduction in private car usage, a 20 percent reduction in carbon emissions and widespread support to tax high-polluting cars even more.
"It is in cities that the battle to tackle climate change will be won or lost,'' Mayor Livingstone said, which is borne out in the numbers: cities cover 1 percent of the Earth's surface but generate 80 percent of greenhouse gases.
Mayor Bloomberg has recently taken up the challenge, outlining an ambitious environmental plan for New York, which is projected to grow by one million additional residents by 2030. Bloomberg wants to enact a three-year congestion-pricing pilot similar to London’s, among other things, but skeptics point out the glacial pace of reform and resistance in Albany will mean an uphill battle all the way.
Toronto Mayor David Miller also announced a major new initiative with Zerofootprint to provide citizens and government officials with sophisticated online tools to manage their carbon footprint. Miller said, “Where national governments can't or won't lead, cities will.''
