THE ROLE OF THE U.S. MAYORS AND URBAN FORESTS IN ADDRESSING CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION AND ADAPTATION
Abstract
Leadership at cities and municipalities can be instrumental in beginning local conversation regarding climate change and urban forest policies. Much research has been devoted to national climate change actions, but research focusing on reducing human vulnerabilities to climate change is lacking. This study presents results of a survey of U.S. Conference of Mayors Climate protection Agreement (MCPA) members, representing 1,054 cities and 93.6 million people, conducted to improve the understanding of how mayors view urban forest policies related to climate change. The goals of the study were to examine local government initiatives for climate change and urban forests and how mayors prioritize these investments. The results indicated that a variety of local climate change mitigation and adaptation actions were being pursued by member MCPA cities. This is important as the international climate change policy rarely acknowledges the role of cities tackling climate change adaptation, although they are vulnerable settlements and at the same time important emitters.
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