Mayors of 12 major cities commit to green transit

The mayors of London, Paris, Los Angeles, Copenhagen, Barcelona, Quito, Vancouver, Mexico City, Milan, Seattle, Auckland, and Cape Town have pledged to procure only zero-emission buses from 2025 and ensure that major areas of their cities are zero emission by 2030.

The mayors made the pledge on Monday when they signed the C40 Fossil-Fuel-Free Streets Declaration at an event in Paris. The policies contained in the declaration are designed to fight air pollution, improve the quality of life for all citizens, and help tackle the global threat of climate change, according to a C40 statement.

The signatories to the declaration “envision a future where walking, cycling, and shared transport are how the majority of citizens move around our cities”.

To this end, they commit to increase rates of walking, cycling and the use of public and shared transport, reduce the number of polluting vehicles on city streets, and procure zero-emission vehicles for city fleets. They will also collaborate with suppliers, fleet operators and businesses to accelerate the shift to zero-emission vehicles and reduce vehicle mileage in cities.

Each of the cities will report back every two years on the progress they are making towards the goals of the C40 Declaration.

“C40 Mayors understand thriving cities require clean air. By switching to cleaner vehicles, we can fight climate change and save many lives,” said UN Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change and C40 Board President, Michael R. Bloomberg.

As SmartCitiesDive reports, many of the cities that signed the declaration have already made significant efforts to reduce air pollution by improving city transit. London’s mayor Sadiq Khan released a plan in June that would reduce city transit emissions to zero by 2050, while the Los Angeles transportation authority announced plans in August to electrify its 2,200 bus fleet by 2030.

 

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