Boston signs climate memorandum of collaboration with Copenhagen, Cambridge

Mayors agree to work together to develop and share innovative solutions for sustainable and resilient cities.

Mayor Martin J. Walsh signed yesterday a memorandum of collaboration between the City of Boston, City of Copenhagen and City of Cambridge to help advance each city’s climate goals. The agreement establishes a framework for collaboration to develop and share innovative solutions for sustainable and resilient cities.

“We know that in order to meet the challenges of climate change, it’s all about local action and international collaboration,” said Mayor Walsh. “We’re eager to continue these solution-oriented conversations with our neighbors in Cambridge and partners in Copenhagen.”

Mayor Walsh joined Cambridge City Manager Louis A. DePasquale and Mayor Morten Kabell of Copenhagen yesterday for a discussion on their cities’ climate goals and for the official signing in Boston City Hall’s Eagle Room. Watch an excerpt of the remarks and signing here.

“Cities have a great task ahead of them,” said Morten Kabell, Copenhagen's Mayor of Technical and Environmental Affairs. “They need to be at the forefront of the green transition and they need to work together to create the innovative solutions in order to both dramatically reduce emissions and increase the resilience of the cities. We are really looking forward to collaborating with Boston and Cambridge on this. They are among the leading cities on the climate agenda in the United States, and we hope that we together can take a great leap forward to more sustainable cities.“We look forward to collaborating with the City of Boston and the City of Copenhagen to combat climate change,” said Cambridge City Manager Louis A. DePasquale. “In addition to furthering Cambridge’s goal to achieve carbon neutrality by mid-century, the exchange of ideas, best practices, and innovative strategies will enable us to promote environmental sustainability on a local and international level.”Boston’s Green Ribbon Commission hosted today representatives of all three cities for presentations and discussions about the new agreement. The forum shared information and experience in managing urban climate change with participants. <a href="http://www.greenribboncommission.org/event/kick-off-boston-cambridge-copenhagen-collaboration-climate-change/">For more information on the discussion today, read here.</a>"Working with Copenhagen and Cambridge will increase Boston's ability to change, adapt, and react to the new pressures of climate change in an urban environment," said John Cleveland, Executive Director of the Boston Green Ribbon Commission. "Last year, the Green Ribbon Commission took a group of 25 Boston leaders on a Climate Innovations Study Tour that included two days in Copenhagen. The in-person experience was worth a thousand webinars -- we learned an enormous amount from the leaders of a city that has taken serious action on things like radical automobile reduction in the city center and large-scale green infrastructure development to mitigate destructive amounts of water from cloudbursts. Continuing in that vein, we look forward to a highly interactive exchange of ideas and project development opportunities over the three years of the Collaboration with our colleagues from Cambridge and Copenhagen."Mayor Walsh announced earlier this week at the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce that Boston will host a climate summit next year for U.S. cities and cities across the world. Next year's summit is an opportunity to expand the role of cities and drive action beyond the Paris Agreement. The tri-city agreement and earlier announcement support a forward-thinking approach that ensures a more resilient city for future generations as outlined in Boston’s long term plan, Imagine Boston 2030. <a href="https://www.boston.gov/news/mayor-walsh-announces-initiatives-build-more-equitable-resilient-city">For more on the announcement and to read the full remarks, read here.</a>

Tags Environment Climate Action Plan Climate Ready Boston