Mayors from around the world met in New York City on Tuesday for an environmental summit hosted by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former U.S. President Bill Clinton. The conference's central message was that the effort to reverse global warming begins with the world's cities. “It is in cities that the battle to tackle climate change will be won or lost,” London Mayor Ken Livingston said. Mayors and local leaders from more than 30 cities attended the conference, called the C40 Large Cities Climate Summit, which first convened in 2005 in London. Organizers say cities have a huge responsibility to address climate change because they generate 80 percent of heat-trapping greenhouse gases. “Our theme is not whether we should work together, because we know that we must, it is how and how fast we can do so,” New York City Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff said. The conference comes at a time when many countries are struggling to address global and national standards for carbon reduction. This week, U.N. delegates are meeting in Germany to prepare for December negotiations on a new set of international rules for controlling greenhouse-gas emissions. “Where national governments can't or won't lead, cities will,” Toronto Mayor David Miller said. Organizers of the conference, which ends Thursday, also invited several business leaders to this year's meeting in an effort to convince companies that environmentally-friendly practices can be profitable.
