Dr. Karl Kim represents UH and Hawaii at U.N. Climate Change Conference in Poland

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Contact:
Karl Kim, (808) 956-7381
UHM Department of Urban and Regional Planning
Posted: Dec 8, 2008

UH Mānoa professor Karl E. Kim, Ph.D., will represent the university and Hawaiʻi at the Local Government Climate Sessions of the United Nations Climate Change Conference from Dec. 9-11 in Poznan, Poland.

Local governments will offer national governments their support and partnership to limit global warming during presentations at the U.N. event, which fully runs from Dec. 1-12.

"Cities are not just part of the problem, they must be part of the solution in terms of limiting greenhouse gas emissions and addressing the many impacts of climate change," said Kim, a professor within the UHM Department of Urban and Regional Planning. "We need to redesign our cities so that they are more sustainable, energy efficient, and resilient to extreme weather events."

Since 2007, cities have mirrored the U.N. Climate Roadmap in a process called the "Local Government Climate Roadmap." They have been advocating for a comprehensive post-2012 climate agreement, which will determine the next phase of what is currently referred to as the Kyoto Protocol.

At the 2007 U.N. Climate Conference in Bali, New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg addressed leaders of local governments. "The world‘s cities, which account for 80% of humanity‘s production of greenhouse gases, recognize that inaction is not an option," said Bloomberg. "Mayors of the world‘s cities are the great pragmatists on the world‘s stage. Results, not ideology, are what matter to us."

Mayors around the world are signing the World Mayors and Local Government Climate Agreement, committing themselves to a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 60% from 1990 levels and by 80% from 1990 levels in industrialized countries.

Home to 50% of the world‘s population, cities consume 80% of all energy.

For more information on the local sessions of the conference, see the event Web site at http://www.iclei.org/poznan2008.