Largest global alliance of cities and local governments for climate leadership endorses Amazon Cities Pact
September 18, 2019, Manaus, Brazil –– The Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy, the largest global alliance for climate leadership, uniting a global coalition of over 10,000 cities and local governments, today endorse the Amazon Cities Pact which calls for concrete measures to be taken to protect the Amazon region.
Thousands of fires are burning in Brazil, many of them in the world’s largest rainforest, sending clouds of smoke across the region and pumping alarming quantities of carbon into earth’s atmosphere. The Amazon is a vast sink for storing carbon dioxide and a key element of any plan to restrain climate change.
It is of vital importance that we pause to consider the best path to sustainable development in the Amazon region. Amazonian municipalities should be at the center of this transition process, to strengthen their role of major references in local climate action and allow them to directly access financial resources for the implementation of their commitments.
Following the launch of the Amazon Cities Pact on September 6, 2019, the board of the Global Covenant of Mayors, which is comprised of representatives of the world’s major city networks combatting climate change, has unanimously agreed to join the Mayor of Manaus Arthur Virgilio Neto and his colleagues in calling for these steps to be taken to help the Amazon region flourish:
- Awareness-raising among the private sector of the impacts of their supply chains on the region and the adoption of new measures to achieve greater sustainability.
- The development of new social impact-driven business models focused on solutions to the challenges Amazonian cities face.
- The adoption of nature-based urban solutions that contribute to climate change adaptation and protecting biodiversity.
- A push toward investment in basic sanitation in the region, as well as a focus on solid waste management to limit contamination of rivers and soil and encourage the reuse of materials.
- An embrace of local knowledge and potential as an integral part of the region’s economic development model.
- A focus on innovations in science and technology to support the development of the Amazonian bioeconomy, by safeguarding ecosystems in conservation units, protecting extractive reserves and indigenous lands through sustainable agriculture, limiting deforestation and the inclusion of local communities.
On the launch of the Pact, Arthur Virgílio Neto, Mayor of Manaus, said: “The construction of the Pact was a joint articulation work that brings concrete proposals for the sustainable development of the Amazonian cities.”
“Our next step,” he added, “with the support of ICLEI (Local Governments for Sustainability), the National Front of Mayors and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, will be the consolidation of a permanent Forum of Amazonian Cities that will lead this process.”
The board of the Global Covenant invites mayors, cities, and individuals around the world to show their support for this important step forward by sharing, using #AmazonCitiesPact on social media.
About the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy
GCoM is the largest global alliance for climate leadership, uniting a global coalition of over 10,000 cities and local governments. The cities and partners of the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy share a long-term vision of supporting voluntary action to combat climate change and towards a resilient and low-emission society. GCoM serves cities and local governments by mobilizing and supporting ambitious, measurable, planned climate and energy action in their communities by working with city/regional networks, national governments, and other partners to achieve our vision. Led by UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Climate Action, Michael R. Bloomberg, and European Commission Vice President, Maroš Šefčovič, the coalition comprises cities across 6 continents and 132 countries, representing over 800 million people or 10% of the global population.
www.globalcovenantofmayors.org
For more information:
Global Covenant of Mayors
Marshall Cohen
mcohen@globalcovenantofmayors.org
+32 492 25 56 31
If you would like to endorse this pact and amplify its calls to action, Find the social media toolkit here (in English, Spanish and Portuguese).