Mr Secretary General, Excellences,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am very honoured to represent the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group today.
Cities are central to achieving the Paris Agreement Goals - accounting for almost 80 percent of energy consumption, and 75 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.
C40 has helped more than 100 cities around the world to commit to carbon neutrality by 2050.
Every day, city governments face problems caused by the climate crisis.
Urban cooling is one such challenge.
Urban cooling is one such challenge.
As temperatures rise, cooling systems will become a more important source of emissions.
By 2050, space cooling alone will consume as much electricity as China & India today.
Cities need support for developing more innovative urban cooling solutions.
For example, nature-based solutions like green corridors, which support efforts to pedestrianise.
And green buildings, to reduce the need for active cooling.
For its part, Copenhagen has developed district cooling based on sea water.
It uses 70% less energy compared to regular air-conditioning.
Finally, public-private partnerships and knowledge sharing, between local, national and global level, are key to solving the climate crisis.
Therefore, C40 and the City of Copenhagen have joined the cool coalition.
That’s why I am honoured to host the C40 World Mayors Summit in Copenhagen next month.
Mayors from around the world will convene alongside other leaders to accelerate actions, and support national action plans presented here today.
It is very simple.
We need to act.
Not just some of us.
All of us.
We need to act together, and we need to do it now.
Thank you.