Cities, States Call on World Leaders to Ban Fossil Fuels Ahead of UN Summit

“Through our actions we are sending clear signals to markets that fossil fuels are not welcome,” 14 leaders of states, regions and cities from around the globe wrote in a letter to UN heads of state ahead of a key climate summit in New York later this week.

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The time has come for world leaders to listen to the voices of cities and states at the forefront of climate action and work alongside them to halt the expansion of fossil fuels, according to a letter signed by dozens of city and state leaders and addressed to UN heads of state.

The call comes ahead of the United Nation’s Summit of the Future, which is set to kick off on Sunday in New York, and the UN General Assembly High-Level Week. World leaders at the summit are set to adopt the Pact for the Future, an intergovernmental blueprint for multilateral governance in an age of crisis.

“As you meet for the General Assembly and Summit of the Future, we as leaders of States and Cities, urge you to transition your countries away from fossil fuels,” the letter, signed by 14 mayors, governors, and subnational leaders across five continents, read. Together, they represent more than 40 million people. The signatories hope their call will add pressure on national leaders to turn their positive words about transitioning away from fossil fuels – a pledge they made at last year’s COP28 –  into concrete action.

Home to 56% of the global population, cities are responsible for 70% of global primary energy consumption and 60% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. They are also at the forefront of climate change, vulnerable to water-related hazards such as floods, droughts, sea level rise, and storm events as well as extreme heat. But as their climate vulnerability grows, so do their efforts in mitigating and adapting to a warming planet.

“Mayors and governors are making huge strides in improving building energy efficiency – from homes to offices and schools – electrifying bus fleets, scaling up renewable energy, setting up clean energy utilities, and creating good green jobs to build cleaner, safer communities,” the letter read. “Through our actions we are sending clear signals to markets that fossil fuels are not welcome.”

More on the topic: How Cities Are Bracing For More Heat

And yet, world leaders have been slow at recognizing the key role cities play in the journey to decarbonization. A recent UN-Habitat report found that only 27% of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) – national plans for emissions reduction that each signatory to the Paris Agreement is required to set up and update every five years – prominently featured urban sectors and identified them as a priority. Among the NDCs with strong urban focus are those of low- and middle-income countries including China, Colombia, Morocco, India, South Africa, and Turkey.

39% had moderate levels of urban content and the remaining 35% had low to no mention, including high-income and highly urbanized countries and regions such as Canada, Japan, the European Union, and the US along with Brazil, Indonesia, and Nigeria.

Speaking with Earth.Org in June, Lea Ranalder, Associate Programme Management Officer, Human Settlements at UN-Habitat acknowledged the gap between how cities are affected by climate change and how this is reflected in the NDCs.

“There’s a big disconnect between what projects need to happen and where the money goes. And it also has to do with our current climate finance infrastructure, where cities, depending on where they are, have problems getting the money.”

Ranalder’s sentiment was echoed in the letter.

“At a time when we need faster, fairer action, G20 nations continue to pour billions into fossil fuel  subsidies. It’s time to stop propping up these polluting industries and use these funds to scale up local and equitable climate action instead,” the signatories – which included the mayors of Milan, Boston, Montreal, Paris, and Barcelona – said.

Working with cities, Ranalder said, would allow countries to “tackle the climate crisis faster, more efficiently, and more effectively and with people in mind.” And yet, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) latest Assessment Report, $384 billion has so far been spent on climate action in urban areas, representing just 10% of what is necessary to build low-carbon and climate-resilient cities.

Featured image: Lieut. Commander Mark Moran, NOAA Corps, NMAO/AOC via Flickr.