From the President
Hope seen from below
With or without a new international agreement to follow the Kyoto Protocol, it is the local authorities – here, there and everywhere – who will have to put into practice the recommendations for the reduction of greenhouse gases.
In fact, our association did not wait for the results of the climate summits to concentrate on the actions to be taken locally. The Climate Plan for Geneva, published before the Copenhagen summit in September 2009, gathers and describes
the measures that can be immediately applied by Geneva in order to face the challenge captured by the IPCC (climatologists mandated by the UN). We worked together with the Constituent Assembly of the Geneva canton, the Grand Council and the consultative commissions, as well as with the main urban districts in order to have them adopt this Climate Plan; while combining it with other local measures such as agenda 21, Energy Cities, the law on energy and the cantonal concept on energy.
At the international level, the association built a coalition with British, German and American NGOs aiming to change – with great success – the policies regarding fluorinated gases (refrigerants and their by-products). Each molecule of these gases is equivalent to thousands of molecules of CO2, when talking about their GWP (global warming potential). This project was largely covered by the international
press, allowing the public to discover a greenhouse gas that was until now basically unknown.
The future has not been determined – cities and regions are no longer waiting on a hypothetical international treaty. These public collectives are committing themselves
to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions in a responsible manner as recommended
by the IPCC. In a context where the state is not sufficiently committed to face the climate challenge, these collectives are going ahead and taking action. This is the best definition of courage: to come out of the paralysis provoked by fear and mobilise that element that makes us act – hope.
