The ICLEI World Congress 2015 kicked off at Dongdaemun Design Plaza in eastern Seoul on Wednesday, with 203 city representatives from 87 countries around the world gathering to discuss sustainable solutions to fight climate change.

Themed “Sustainable Solutions for an Urban Future,” the triennial event will examine cities’ roles in cutting greenhouse gas emissions and promoting cooperation for tackling climate change.

Earlier in the day, Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon was appointed president of the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives by the Global Executive Committee. He will succeed David Cadman, who served the term from 2012. Park will chair the GEC meetings for the next three years.

“City cooperation is essential for promptly responding to global climate change. I will lead the municipalities around the world to join anti-carbon moves and encourage them to contribute to the greenhouse gas emission cut,“ he said in the inauguration speech.
 

Ahead of the opening, Park met with three European green city mayors ― Bo Frank, the mayor of Vaxjo City in Sweden; Katrin Stjernfeldt Jammeh, the mayor of Malmo City in Sweden; and Dagur Eggertsson, the mayor of Reykjavik City in Iceland ― to share their efforts in seeking environment-friendly policies.

The Reykjavik mayor highlighted that national-level efforts against climate change cannot be achieved without local-level initiatives.

“The city efforts are often ignored at the national level. The central government should realize the importance of city roles in environmental issues to better cope with these issues,” Eggertsson said. “I believe the ICLEI assembly could be a strong platform in raising the importance of awareness.”

Reykjavik, the capital city of Iceland, home to some 120,000 city residents, has set a policy to decrease greenhouse gas emissions by 35 percent by 2020 and 73 percent by 2050. Under Reykjavik’s master plan, all electricity will be produced with hydro-electronic power and house heating will include geothermal power. More than 85 percent of vehicles owned by the city use biodynamic energy, methane or electricity, the city said. 

The mayor of Vaxjo stressed that his city government was able to seek green policies due to the autonomous city system.

“In the case of Sweden, the power of the local government is systematically strong. The decentralization system has been settled since 200 years ago while the majority of the city budget is nationally funded,” Frank said.

Vaxjo in Kronoberg County, also known as “the greenest city in Europe” with nearly 100,000 residents, has been putting efforts into eliminating the use of fossil fuel since 1996.

In an aim to become a fossil fuel-free city by 2030, Vaxjo promoted environmentally friendly transportation with bicycle-only roads, and pushed for constructing timber buildings to curb energy use. It also turns waste into a source of biogas for vehicles.

As a result, the city has halved carbon emissions in the last two decades, Vaxjo officials said. Its goal is to reduce emissions per capita by 70 percent by 2025, compared to that of 1993, they added.

Malmo’s mayor emphasized that childhood education is essential to encouraging civic participation in local-level green projects.

“(The city) has put in efforts to get children interested in environmental issues from an early age. For example, schools arrange a carnival to offer an opportunity for students to create their own solutions for a sustainable future,” said Jammeh.

Malmo, the capital of Skane County in Sweden, has pursued solar, wind and water energy to reduce carbon emissions by at least 40 percent, compared to 1990 levels.

After the talks, the city leaders vowed to further strengthen their inter-city ties and to share their green policies.

On Thursday, the ICLEI members will participate in the opening plenary session.

By Lee Hyun-jeong (rene@heraldcorp.com)