Calgary Climate Change Accord

The countries of the world will gather at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15) at Copenhagen in December 2009 to consider a new agreement to reduce the total quantity of anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the atmosphere.

  1. The signatory World Energy Cities Partnership (WECP) cities urge world leaders gathering at Copenhagen to establish targets for GHG reduction in an ambitious global agreement that will safeguard our people, our societies and our planet from the effects of climate hange. This agreement should be enacted and ratified by 2012 for it to come into force after the Kyoto Protocol expires.

  2. The signatory WECP cities commit that their Municipal Governments will be leaders and catalysts for change by taking their municipal government activities and approving official policies and plans to educe these emissions by a minimum of 20% by 2020 and a minimum of 80% from the baseline by 2050 using 2005 as the baseline. The ignatory WECP cities will establish a mechanism to report progress.

  3. The signatory WECP cities further commit that within the limit of their authority and leadership, their Municipal Governments will pursue parallel GHG reduction strategies for their communities. For each ignatory WECP city, a 2005 baseline of GHG emissions from all community sources will be established, and a plan to reduce GHG missions and promote low-carbon living will be created. The signatory WECP cities will establish a mechanism to report community progress.

  4. The signatory WECP cities that currently do not have GHG emission data available commit to determine a baseline year and to agree and set GHG reduction targets in line with their respective national overnments.

    5. The signatory WECP cities represent diverse societies. GHG reduction strategies determined by signing cities will encompass unique national and regional circumstances. Signatory WECP cities will work collaboratively to develop capacity and share experiences. From this, signatory WECP cities will design and promote best practices for GHG reduction for application by local governments and business.

  5. The signatory WECP cities will use the unique relationships we have with business, government, non-government organizations, and post-secondary institutions to create an annual forum that will focus on:

    • Strategies for energy cities and other municipalities to establish staged targets for GHG reduction; to apply best practices and nnovate new programs to reduce GHG emissions; and verifiable procedures to report progress; and

    • Opportunities for energy cities to increase resilience and economic sustainability by creating enterprise centres of research, technology and academic endeavor for energy efficiency and renewable energy.

The signatory WECP cities will pursue partnerships with industry, overnment, NGOs, media and local community groups with a view to establishing innovative low-carbon urban sustainability projects in their communities. These projects will inform and engage societies about the provisions and need for the United Nations Climate Change Accord and the urgent need to conserve energy, use energy efficiently and reduce natural resource consumption.

In recognition of the different needs of WECP cities signing the accord and the commitment of all the signatory WECP cities to work together to achieve common goals, cities signing the accord may elect one of two sub-clauses that will establish a starting point for implementing the accord.

Cities that have signed the Accord are:

Aberdeen, Scottland
Calgary, Canada
Halifax, Canada
Houston, USA
Perth, Australia
Port Harcourt, Nigeria
San Fernando, Trinidad & Tobago
Stavanger, Norway
St Johns, Canada

© World Energy Cities Partnership 2009. All rights reserved.