Cities have a huge
responsibility in
contributing to bringing
down greenhouse
gas emissions.
Halo loyal viewers, and
welcome to Planet Earth:
Our Loving Home.
On today's program,
we present the first
in a two-part series
on the crucial role that
cities across our world
are playing in the efforts
to mitigate climate change.
We will learn about
some of the green steps
that mayors, councilors,
and other local leaders
are taking and how
they are encouraging
more eco-friendly ways
of living
among their residents.
Currently 50% of humanity
lives in urban areas,
and by the turn
of the next century,
it is estimated
that up to 90%
of the world's population
will live in cities.
In addition,
cities currently consume
80% of the global
energy supply.
The policies set
by urban governments
can greatly affect the lives
of millions of people.
Decisions made
by our municipalities also
impact the environment
for better or worse and
have a dramatic effect
on the condition
of our biosphere.
Important choices regarding
public transportation
infrastructure, designation
of green spaces,
waste recycling programs,
zoning policies and
building codes, and so on
are typically made
by local governments.
Cities need to lead the way.
Cities have more
flexibility in getting
something done now.
Every individual must
make a contribution.
In this regard,
let’s do all we can.
Over the past few years,
many metros have been
rising to the challenge to
lessen planetary warming
and are courageously
leading the way by making
sustainability a priority.
Let's take a quick look at
what some cities
around the globe
are doing in this area.
Reykjavik,
the capital of Iceland,
has been recognized as
one of the greenest cities
in the world.
Approximately
95% of all buildings
in the metropolis
are heated using
clean geothermal energy
and the city also recently
made hydrogen-run buses
part of its public
transportation system.
Reykjavik seeks
to be completely
fossil-fuel-free by 2050.
Portland, Oregon, USA
is also one of
the most eco-aware cities
on our planet.
More than 30 years ago,
Portland removed
a six-lane highway
and replaced it with a
14-hectare waterfront park.
Today the municipality
has roughly 37,000
hectares of green space
and its 119 kilometers
of bike trails facilitate
walking and biking
to work or school.
It has an urban growth
policy that ensures
the protection
of the approximately
10 million hectares
of forests and farms
that surround it.
Portland was also
the first city
in the United States
to formulate a plan
to reduce its
greenhouse gas emissions.
Japan’s capital of Tokyo
is one of the most
densely populated metros
in the world with
almost 6,000 persons
per square kilometer
and is working diligently
to reduce its release
of greenhouse gases.
Tokyo was recently
selected to take part in
a billion-dollar project
headed by the
Clinton Global Initiative,
an organization started by
former US president
Bill Clinton
to address urgent issues
affecting humanity.
The initiative’s objective
is to reduce CO2 emissions
by increasing
the energy efficiency
of city-owned buildings.
Tokyo has also
committed to planting
200,000 additional trees
in the city center.
Curitiba, Brazil
is seen as a world leader
for its green policies
that are helping
to stem global warming.
After establishing
an innovative
city-bus system,
with dedicated lanes and
super-stretch vehicles,
over 75% of city-dwellers
now take the bus
on a regular basis.
In addition,
70% of Curitiba’s waste
is recycled and there are
over 52 square meters of
green space per person.
According to one survey,
99% of Curitibans report
that they are happy
with their city.
In recent years Kampala,
the national capital
of Uganda, has seen
a great expansion
in the amount of
locally grown produce
thanks to the enactment
of ordinances which
support urban agriculture.
Kampala’s promotion
of city-based cultivation
has not only transformed
the local food system,
it has also inspired
the national government
to adopt a similar
urban agriculture policy
for the entire country.
The production
and consumption
of animal products
is the number one cause
of climate change.
According to researchers,
this enormously
damaging cycle
is the source
of more than 51% of
all human-induced global
greenhouse gas emissions.
Many municipalities,
aware of the relationship
between dietary choice
and global warming,
are developing ways to
encourage their residents
to choose plant-based fare.
In Europe,
Ghent, Belgium, became
the first city in the world
to introduce
a “Veggie Day”
in May 2009.
Every Thursday
schoolchildren in Ghent
are provided
vegetarian lunches
as civil servants
and city councillors
set an example
for all residents by
enjoying vegetarian meals.
Taking a laudable step
forward, on April 6, 2010
the San Francisco Board
of Supervisors signed
a historic resolution
implementing a city-wide
VegDay every Monday,
making San Francisco
the first US city
to officially join
the international
meat-free day movement.
In July 2010,
the first city in all of Africa,
Cape Town,
South Africa,
officially launched
a Meat Free Mondays
campaign
to promote public health,
better animal welfare,
and halt global warming.
City officials
across continents
are working together
to find ways to lessen
the generation
of greenhouse gases.
ICLEI-Local Governments
for Sustainability is an
international association
of local governments
whose primary mission
is to share
innovative ideas about
sustainable development.
With members
from more than
1,200 cities, towns
and counties from
70 different countries,
ICLEI is
the largest association
of local governments
in the world.
We are approaching
a number of tipping points,
particularly in relation to
climate change
and to ocean and
terrestrial ecosystems.
If we pass these points,
corrective action
will both be
immensely expensive and
very probably ineffective.
In October 2010
the group held their
20th anniversary meeting
in Incheon, South Korea
with the theme
“Future of Cities.”
The second day of
the three-day conference
was designated
as Meat-free Day,
and gourmet
plant-based meals
were served to attendees
in recognition of
the environmental
destructiveness
of meat consumption.
Supreme Master Ching Hai,
world renowned
humanitarian, author,
and spiritual teacher
frequently encourages
leaders at every level
to take actions
to save our planet,
as in an October 2009
video message
to a gathering
of magistrates and judges
in Mexico City, Mexico.
At this most urgent time
for the planet, I beseech
your honorable graces to
please help your country
and our world spare lives
from the impending
global warming calamity.
If you don’t,
there will be too massive
a catastrophe,
too immense a suffering
upon people, families,
the children,
that our conscience might
never be able to bear it.
We eliminate most of
the human-made
greenhouse gases
by simply adopting
the animal-free
vegan organic lifestyle.
This also leads
to considerable
financial savings
for world governments.
We cannot wait
for the sustainable energy
and green technology
to be available
and used by everyone.
It would be too late.
We must become vegan
to save our planet.
On November 21, 2010,
one week before the start
of the COP16 Climate
Change Conference,
the World Mayors Summit
on Climate
was held in Mexico City.
Co-sponsored by the
Mexico City government,
the World Mayors Council
on Climate Change,
ICLEI-Local Governments
for Sustainability,
and United Cities
and Local Governments
(UCLG), the Summit
was attended by 3,000
local and regional leaders
including 138 mayors
from 43 nations.
Some of the world's
largest urban metros,
including
Buenos Aires, Argentina,
Johannesburg,
South Africa,
Los Angeles, USA
Paris, France,
Vancouver, Canada
and Jakarta, Indonesia
were represented
at the meeting.
Supreme Master Ching Hai
was invited to attend
the Summit by the
Mexico City government
as a special guest.
Although unable to come
due to her busy schedule,
she sent delegates
to participate in the event
as well as
well-wishing letters
for the organizers and
all distinguished guests
in attendance.
Martha Delgado,
Mexico City’s secretary
of the environment and
ICLEI’s vice president,
stated the following
during the gathering,
“Cities have
great capacities to
address climate change,
even in the absence of
a binding global treaty
among nations, which is
why we are here today.
We are demonstrating
the leadership of mayors
and cities around the world
to take action.”
This opens the door
of a technology
that we’re looking for
to substitute vehicles
that pollute too much.
We want green growth.
We want organic farming
to replace this
destructive agriculture.
At lunch, the Summit
attendees enjoyed
a delicious and nutritious
organic vegetarian meal
graciously provided by
the Mexico City
government.
We offered a vegetarian
and organic menu
for mayors, and we also
took that opportunity
to sensitize their
consciousness about
the meat, the generation
of methane, also the land
that we are losing
because of growing animals.
Both the organizers
and attendees
supported shifting diets
to stop climate change.
I had to be excited
about the lunch
being vegetarian.
There’s got to be
a start somewhere,
and we’ve begun.
It’s much better
to eat vegetarian food
than to eat meat.
Would you be vegan
to save the planet?
Yes, yes.
I am with you on that.
What if we had
a vegan day in Cancún
in the week?
What if, instead of
having just one day,
we have the whole week?
We are having already
in Cancún many more
vegetarian places.
We are supporting
so that in addition to care
for the environment,
there should be care
for the main element,
which is, the human being.
So that we can have
a better city,
a better country.
So that
the world lives better.
Be Veg,
Go Green
2 Save the Planet!
At the conclusion
of the Summit,
135 mayors signed the
Mexico City Mayors Pact,
an agreement
to reduce the generation
of greenhouse gases
through local laws
and initiatives.
These benevolent
and caring leaders
also agreed to register
their climate actions
in the Cities Climate
Registry (CCCR)
at the Bonn Centre
for Local Climate Action
and Reporting
and to provide
regular updates
on their progress toward
lessening greenhouse gases
in their respective cities.
The Pact demonstrates
that city officials worldwide
are united in the goal of
stopping global warming.
Their cooperative spirit
is seen as an example for
the global community.
What we’re doing here is
to bring this further
next week to Cancún, and
offer our partnership.
Please join us again
next Wednesday
on Planet Earth:
Our Loving Home
as we present
the concluding episode
in this series on
the vital role of cities in
mitigating climate change.
Thank you
for your presence today
on our program.
Coming up next is
Enlightening Entertainment,
after Noteworthy News.
May all beings on Earth
enjoy inner and
outer tranquility.