Our Planet, Volume 16, Number 1, 2005 Page: 8

                                
Our Planet
Golden Gateway to
Green Cities

GREEN CITIES
PLAN FOR THE PLANET!
WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY
5 JUNE 2005
California Governor Arnold
Schwarzenegger explains how
protecting the environment and
economic growth can go hand in hand
United Nations World Environment Day is one of the
most important events    on  the  international
environmental calendar. California and San Francisco
are honored to be the first hosts in the United States for World
Environment Day.
The environment is an essential part of the California
experience. The state's stunning beauty Lies in its diverse
natural wonders and resources. I am passionately committed
to defending California's environment, and providing real
Leadership to protect our precious Land, air, and water.
Here in California, we have rejected the notion that we
must choose between protecting the environment, and
protecting jobs and economic growth. We know that if our
beaches are soiled by oil spills, tourists will not experience
the wonders of our magnificent coastline. If we Log our forests
irresponsibly, streambeds will be destroyed and our fishing
industry will suffer.
But, California is not alone in facing this challenge. If we
are going to Leave a better planet for generations to come, we
must work within a global effort to ensure the economy and
the environment never become competing interests. United
Nations World Environment Day will help us focus on these
critical issues, but there is an added significance to the event
coming to San Francisco.
Sixty years ago, the United Nations was born in the City by
the Bay. Representatives from fifty-one countries committed
to preserving peace through international cooperation and
collective security founded the United Nations at the 1945
charter convention in San Francisco.
Today, nearly every nation in the world belongs to the
United Nations. Together, members work to maintain
international peace, develop friendly relations, cooperate in
solving international problems, and promote respect for
human rights.
As the nations of the world meet this week in San
Francisco, we can add another great principle to the list:
working together to build a sustainable future and a healthy
respect for our planet U

UNEP has selected the City of San Francisco to host
the main celebrations of World Environment Day
2005. The event will coincide with the 60th
anniversary of the birth of the United Nations in the
Californian city. Mayors from around the world will
meet to celebrate green cities and create a plan for
a sustainable urban future.
Jared Blumenfeld describes a pioneering
series of accords for sustainable cities
or the first time in history, the majority of the planet's
population will soon live in cities. By 2025, 60 per cent of
humanity will do so. One million people move to them
each week in a massive, continuing demographic migration.
Our new urban planet has already created common
environmental challenges and opportunities. Mayors can shape
the destiny of the planet by developing truly sustainable urban
centers.
The key legacy of World Environment Day 2005, celebrated
in San Francisco, will be the Urban Environmental Accords.
Drafted by mayors, NGOs, universities, and UN agencies, they
focus on 21 actions that all cities can take - and will be signed
on the 60th Anniversary of the UN Charter, itself signed in this
city in 1945.
The Accords are a series of environmental actions that have
been implemented by at least one city. They take into account
the fact that large city mayors share many common
responsibilities: providing energy, clean water, recycling, public
transportation, parks, and urban planning. Clear and achievable,
the entire Accords document takes up only two pages.
They include:
Adopting and implementing a policy to increase the use of
renewable energy to 10 per cent of the city's peak load within
seven years.
Implementing "user-friendly" recycling and composting
programs to provide alternative disposal options, with the goal
4p