San Francisco Mayor proclaims
urban environmental movement
By Josh Fecht
15 May 2005: Mayors from around the globe took the historic
step of signing the Urban
Environmental Accords on 5 June 2005 in the rotunda of San Francisco City Hall in
recognition of United Nations World Environment Day 2005. San Francisco Mayor, Gavin
Newsom, said what we have accomplished here will change the world. “What we started
here is only the beginning - the start of a new way of thinking about our earth, and the
start of a new global environmental grassroots movement focused on cities,” the Mayor
stressed.
In 1945, the original 50 founding delegates signed the U.N. Charter in San Francisco. “Today,
Mayor Newsom has brought together 50 of the largest and most visionary cities on the planet to
chart a new and bold course toward urban environmental sustainability,” said Jared Blumenfeld,
director of the San Francisco Environment Department.
One by one, each mayor stepped forward to sign the Accords document, which sets out 21
specific actions for sustainable urban living. The Accords address seven environmental areas
common to all the world’s large cities: water, energy, waste, urban design, transportation, urban
nature, and environmental health.
“We the signatory Mayors have come together to write a new chapter in the history of global
cooperation,” the Accords resolve. “We commit to promote this collaborative platform and
to build
an ecologically sustainable, economically dynamic, and socially equitable future for our urban
citizens…. By signing these Urban Accords Environmental Accords, we commit ourselves to
moving vital issues of sustainability to the top of our legislative agendas. By implementing the
Urban Environmental Accords, we aim to realize the right to a clean, healthy, and safe environment
for all members of our society.” Those signing the Accords include Jakarta, Delhi, Istanbul, London,
Seattle, Melbourne, Kampala, Zurich, Dhaka, Moscow, Rio de Janeiro, Copenhagen, and
Islamabad. Some mayors signed the Accords in advance of the ceremony. United Nations
Environment Program Executive Director Klaus Toepfer.
The Accords are the result of year-long partnership of cities, the International Council for Local
Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI), the United Nations Environment Program, the University of
California at Berkeley, environmental nonprofits, and businesses. Mayors participating in the World
Environment Day conference met for five days in Accords sessions to debate language and
implementation of the Accords, and to share best practices and ideas. The mayors toured San
Francisco’s state-of-the-art facility where 67 per cent of all waste generated in the city is
recycled;
rode zero-emission vehicles including hydrogen fuel cell buses and a 1907 cable car, and on
Sunday walked through Muir Woods, retracing the steps of the U.N.’s founders 60 years ago.
The conference began 1 June 2005 when California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, flanked by
the participating mayors, signed an Environmental Action Plan to reduce the state’s emissions
of
greenhouse gases. Surrounding World Environment Day, more than 300 community events and
activities took place throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, such as an eco-chic fashion show, a
children’s painting award, a film festival, panels, workshops, and rides in fuel cell cars.
World Environment Day is a project of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). Since its
inception in 1972, World Environment Day has given a human face to environmental issues, and
promoted an understanding that communities are pivotal to changing attitudes about the
environment. UNEP provides leadership and encourages partnership in caring for the environment
by inspiring, informing, and enabling nations and peoples to improve their quality of life without
compromising that of future generations.
