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21 US cities will measure and disclose their CO2 emissions

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Twenty-one US cities, including New York and New Orleans, have announced they will measure their greenhouse gases emissions, in a joint effort to seek ways to halt and reverse global warming.

The cities will resort to a measuring system for CO2 and other greenhouse gases already in used by some 1,300 companies worldwide who voluntarily disclose their emissions.

"Over 70 percent of total global emissions are generated from cities, and if you don't measure these emissions, you cannot manage them," Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) CEO Paul Dickinson told AFP.

Based in London and founded in 2000, the CDP represents some 385 global institutional investors, with a combined asset base of more than 57 trillion dollars.

In the US cities project, the CDP teams up with ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability, a 450-member US group of local governments seeking deep reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and tangible improvements in local sustainability.

Each of the 21 parcitipating cities in the CDP-ICLEI partnership will collect carbon emission data within their jurisdictions' operations, including fire department, ambulance and police services, municipal buildings, waste transport and other services.

They will follow CDP systems to assess and disclose climate change-related risks and opportunities relating to the whole city, comparing their results with other cities to get a complete picture of their greenhouse gas emissions.