This comes just a week after the city passed a bill to eliminate net greenhouse emissions by 2050
New York has now become the largest city in the United States to declare a climate emergency after a vote by the New York City Council on 26 June.
“An immediate emergency mobilization to restore a safe climate” is needed to reverse the impact of greenhouse gases on the environment, said the council.
This decision comes less than a week after the Big Apple approved one of the most ambitious climate plans—to eliminate net greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, with all its electricity coming from carbon-free sources.
New York currently produces 60 percent of its electricity from carbon-free sources such as nuclear power plants hydroelectric dams, wind and solar power plants. The bill passed requires the city to get 70 percent from renewable sources by 2030, and shift entirely to carbon-free power two decades later. “If the state manages to hit those targets, it would effectively create a so-called net-zero economy, the ultimate goal of environmentalists and others seeking to slow the pace of global warming,” according to the New York Times.
New York joins 17 other cities in the United States to enact the legislation. In 2017, Hoboken in New Jersey declared a climate emergency. Oakland was the next to follow suit in October last year, followed by San Francisco in February 2019.
The United States is not the only country to recognise the climate crisis. Nearly 650 countries and 15 municipalities, including The United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia and France have declared climate emergencies. Which begs the question, is India taking notice?
Source: cntraveller.in
