Salem Joins Fight Against Climate Change

Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll and the city are taking a step in the fight against global climate change.

On Monday, Driscoll announced that Salem will join the Compact of Mayors, a global coalition of city leaders dedicated to reducing their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, make their communities more resilient to climate change, and regularly report their progress publicly.

By participating in the Compact of Mayors, Driscoll said she will reinforce Salem’s commitment to climate action. The Compact calls for participating communities to take stock of greenhouse emissions and the current effects of climate change in the city, create an action plan including clear and ambitious reduction targets, and implement a common system of measuring those emissions and monitoring climate risks.

“The Compact of Mayors reinforces our city’s commitment to its people, its businesses, and the environment,” said Driscoll. “Through the Compact, we are strengthening our pledge to reduce local greenhouse gas emissions, create ambitious climate targets, track progress and enhance Salem’s climate resilience. With consistent, public reporting of our city’s climate data, we will show how our actions can effect real change.”

Earlier this year, Salem completed a two-year Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment and Adaptation Plan, a key component of the Compact of Mayors’ pledge. That report studied some of the most serious climate change impacts, including extreme heat events, sea level rise, extreme precipitation events, and storm surges and the extent to which each of those four climate change events will have a potential impact on the city’s critical building and water infrastructure, energy supply, storm water systems, transportation networks and routes, and vulnerable populations. The plan also outlined actionable project ideas to address of the most critical issues.

“As much as Salem is known for being one of America’s greatest historical communities, we are also forward-looking,” said Driscoll. “Critical to that is ensuring that we plan appropriately for the reality of life in a world with a changing climate. As a coastal city it is even more vital that we identify our most vulnerable assets and take appropriate actions to mitigate potential threats that will be caused or exacerbated by climate change.”

“Salem is a designated Green Community and we place a high value on policies and practices that are sustainable and environmentally sensitive,” continued Driscoll. “Whether it is converting our City street lights to LED fixtures, advancing electricity aggregation for consumers, replacing our City fleet with more efficient vehicles and increasing the energy efficiency of public buildings, or pursuing solar opportunities for municipal and private property, Salem is focused on strategies that will reduce our overall carbon footprint and lessen our community’s role in changing our planet’s climate.”

“We will continue to support initiatives to make Salem a city where people want to live, where businesses want to invest, and where jobs will grow. Along with the other cities in the Compact of Mayors, we are showing that actions at the local level can have a global impact. As we better our city, we will be helping to better the world for our generation and for those to come.”

As one of the key initiatives launched at the UN Climate Summit in September of 2014 by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and his Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change, Michael R. Bloomberg, the Compact of Mayors is the world’s largest collective effort to date by cities to tackle climate change, proactively prepare for its impacts, and regularly track and report progress. The Compact was activated under the leadership of the global city networks—C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group (C40), ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI) and the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG)—and with support from UN-Habitat, the UN’s lead agency on urban issues.

“The Compact of Mayors reflects the commitment that cities are making to reduce carbon emissions and the crucial role they play in confronting climate change,” said Bloomberg. “The more cities that take part in the Compact, the bigger impact it will have. I applaud all of the mayors who have joined, and look forward to welcoming more cities into our growing coalition.”

Recent research shows that if every local government in the world took action in accordance with the Compact of Mayors—particularly by targeting their building energy, transportation, and waste sectors—they could reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by the equivalent of cutting the world’s annual coal use by more than half. Visit www.compactofmayors.org to learn more about the Compact of Mayors.