Charter may create green jobs in Chicago

Posted on December 31, 2017

A new charter may create more green jobs in Chicago.

At the the North American Climate Summit attended by municipal leaders from across the world, multiple leaders, including Mexico City Mayor Miguel Ángel Mancera, Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo and Vice Chair of the Global Covenant of Mayors Christiana Figueres, to sign the Chicago Climate Charter, a first-of-its-kind international charter on climate change. The Chicago Climate Charter will represent more than 50 cities, and tens of millions of people in cities across the world.

At the North American Climate Summit, cities are taking action to articulate commitments to the Paris Agreement and highlight the scope and scale of city climate action in the United States following the Trump administration’s decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement. By signing the Chicago Climate Charter, cities are pledging to:

• Achieve a percent reduction in carbon emissions in line with the Paris Agreement;
• Quantify, track and publicly report city emissions, consistent with standards
• and best practices of measurement and transparency;
• Advocate alongside other mayors for greater local authority and flexibility to develop policies and local laws that empower cities to take aggressive action on climate;
• Recognize and include groups traditionally underrepresented in climate policy;
• Incorporate the realities of climate change and its impacts into local infrastructure and emergency planning through strategies of adaptation and resilience;

• Support strong regional, state and federal policies and partnerships, as well as private sector initiatives, that incentivize the transition to a new climate economy; and
• Partner with experts, communities, businesses, environmental justice groups, advocates and other allies to develop holistic climate mitigation and resilience solutions.

Cities are engaged and ready to take decisive action. Many local leaders will make individual and specific commitments to combat climate change. There are many specific pledges, including: investing in public transit systems to reduce the carbon footprint; providing safe public transportation and accessible land use; accelerating affordable renewable energy access; and reducing the carbon footprint in new and existing public and private buildings and infrastructure.

“The North American Climate Summit sends a timely message to leaders around the world that cities are taking strong, swift and measurable action to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, ensure their communities are more resilient and transition their local economies to benefit from a low-carbon world,” said Global Covenant of Mayors Vice-Chair Christiana Figueres. “Cities and local governments have a critical role to play in stepping up ambition on climate change, and it is very encouraging to see so many coming to the table as we head into the 2018 Stock Take year.”

Since the Trump administration’s announcement to pull out of the Paris Agreement, cities across the United States and around of the world have shown their commitment to creating a truly sustainable future for their residents. America’s Pledge, an initiative led by former New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and California Governor Jerry Brown, formally aggregates and quantifies all U.S. climate action to submit to the U.N. Commitments made by U.S. cities to the Chicago Climate Charter are in support of America’s Pledge.