In a follow up to my top heavy article, I wanted to bring attention to the fantastic news covered in Huff Post, that 350 European cities have signed up to reduce emissions by 20% by 2020. Dafydd Ellis at Climactico has some excellent analysis.
Another issue puts this into a wider context. Back in 2005 141 US Mayors signed the Mayors Climate Protection Agreement. By 2007, 500 US Mayors had signed. The pact agreed to aim to meet Kyoto limits and was a slap in the face to the Bush administration, who throughout its 8 years opposed or held up any serious Climate Change agreement.
What marks both out is their decision to create policy outside of national Government and beyond their national borders indicating a remarkable shift in traditional political power structures. While the US has always had stronger support for the Mayoral system than the UK, the gap may be coming to an end as a new era of urban self-determination could become increasingly prominent in 21st century politics.
