Mayor of Riga Mārtiņš Staķis has joined leaders of the European Union cities and signed the Paris Climate Declaration “Cities leading the way to climate neutrality”, which was renewed to honor anniversary of the Paris Climate agreement signed in 2015. With this Riga confirms that city is ready to deal with climate issues during this challenging pandemic time, pointing out that it is one of the ways how to contribute towards healthier environment for the citizens of Riga.
Declaration states that cities are committing to adapt responsible resolutions of climate neutrality policies which would help to limit the global warming up to 1.5°C and achieve climate neutrality by 2050 the latest.
It also means that city is involved in the “Cities race to Zero” campaign for a healthy, flexible zero-emissions transition ahead of the COP26 summit scheduled for November in Glasgow, Scotland.
Right from the beginning of his tenure, Mayor Staķis has set specific targets in order to improve the city’s governance in education and culture, mobility and infrastructure, urban environment, protection of the environment as well as social integration. Special attention is paid to sustainable recovery of economics and facilitation of entrepreneurship. “We have set the Riga infrastructure renewal plan as the main priority, which goes hand in hand with the improvement of the urban environment by carrying out the main investment projects on climate neutrality. New management of the Riga city council is paying a serious attention to zero emissions solutions, thus the goals expressed in the Riga and Paris Declarations are aligned”, says Mayor Staķis.
A new Climate Neutrality Commission has been established in the Riga City Council, coordinating climate and emission reduction goals, involving all the structural units and agencies of the Riga City Council responsible for these areas. Mayor of Riga underlines: “Our goal is to make Riga the first climate neutral city in the Baltic states and we want to be among the first 100 climate neutral cities in Europe by 2030.”
The Paris Agreement, which was launched 5 years ago, aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and those are the municipalities which are at the front lines for adapting to adverse climatic conditions such as heat waves, droughts and floods, which we are facing increasingly.
Riga City Council has urgent and innovative solutions for the climate, environment and health policies on its immediate agenda with specific focus on creating bicycle lanes, investing in digitalization and renewable energy resources, creating a long-term housing policy, promoting of green space as well as cooperating and exchanging good practices with European cities.
• Paris Declaration in French and English:
https://cdn.paris.fr/paris/2020/12/16/f9db8ca681fcdbc5fc7530e6bae65f72.pdf
• Cities race to Zero: https://racetozero.unfccc.int/system/cities/)
• The Paris Agreement 2015:
(https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement)