On 1 December 2015, the Cities & Regions Pavilion officially opened with a session entitled “We Are Ready” in the Pavilion Agora.
The session opened with a formal welcome from Pavilion hosts, Paris and European Green Capital 2015 Bristol. Mayor of Bristol George Ferguson commented on COP21 that “whatever the outcome, there is no option but for us to act”, while Deputy Mayor of Paris Patrick Klugman pointed out that we had reached a historical moment at COP21, where cities and regions are part of international negotiations. It was critical, he added, “to highlight tremendous potential of local and regional governments to act quickly.”
ICLEI’s Head of Global Policy and Advocacy Yunus Arikan presented a brief history of local and subnational climate action. Local leaders, he explained, had consistently been at the forefront of climate action, from the first summit in 1993, which preceded the first COP. Arikan highlighted the importance of the carbonn Climate Registry for transparent, accountable climate action at the local level, and encouraged mayors to continue their leadership.
Copenhagen’s Young Climate Ambassadors – Anton Walker, Alfred Springborg, Nana Haislund Hansen and Jacob MøllerJensen – made a clear statement: “Our future. Our world. That is what this COP is about.” The Ambassadors expressed the willingness of youth to act, but asked local leaders to go further. The price to pay, they explained, is a cheap one for our world.
Morten Kabell, Mayor of Technical and Environmental Affairs, Copenhagen, agreed that cities must do more: “We as a rich city have caused climate change; now we need to show that we can be a part of the solution”. He highlighted Copenhagen’s goal of being carbon neutral in 10 years and added: “I know we will make it, because we have to make it.”
To close the session, ICLEI Secretary General Gino Van Begin presented the Transformative Actions Program (TAP). He explained that the TAP gathers the most ambitious projects with the potential to transform cities for a sustainable future. However, many require support and funding to be implemented.