G20 china_web

Climate change and green finance
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Cities must cut emissions to help
limit global temperature increase
The C40 Cities Climate Leadership
Group has been set up to help
Eduardo da
Costa Paes
Chair
C40 Cities Climate
Leadership Group
Eduardo da Costa Paes is Mayor
of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and has
been Chair of the C40 Cities Climate
Leadership Group since 2013.
Having entered politics in 1993,
in 2000 he was appointed Rio’s
Municipal Environmental Secretary
where he refined his knowledge of
environmental issues. During his
second mandate as a representative
in Congress in 2007, Paes was
named Secretary of State for
Tourism, Sport and Leisure. A year
later, he was elected Mayor of Rio de
Janeiro and, in 2012, was re-elected
for a second term.
@eduardopaes
www.c40.org
Building
sustainable cities
Eduardo da Costa Paes, Mayor of Rio de Janeiro and Chair
of the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, explains why the
G20 needs to work with cities to reduce climate change
The G20 summit in Hangzhou
will be the first meeting of
leaders from the world’s
largest economies since the
Paris Agreement on climate
change was announced in December 2015.
This agreement, adopted by 195 states,
represents unprecedented global solidarity
and commitment to action.
Despite the numerous political and
economic disruptions the world has
seen over the past year, many countries
are already taking steps to ratify the
agreement as soon as possible. As host of
the Hangzhou Summit, China deserves
particular recognition for its leadership in
implementing the Paris Agreement through
long-term domestic policies and for having
such a strong, bold focus on sustainable
growth in its 13th Five-Year Plan. In China,
swift action is already engaging businesses
and investors in helping to grow the
country’s low-carbon economy. It represents
a compelling example for others to follow.
Delivering the Paris ambition to limit
global temperature increase to below 1.5
degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels
requires economic, political and social
change unlike anything before. It can only
be addressed with the leadership and
commitment of the G20 members,
with the support of their largest cities.
194 G20 China: The Hangzhou Summit • September 2016 G7G20.com