Mayor’s Message

The Mayor signed C40’s Fossil-Fuel-Free Streets Declaration, and an MOU on
Olympic Cooperation with Paris.

PARIS — Mayor Eric Garcetti today joined mayors from around the world in committing to a new set of sustainability goals that will make cities greener, healthier, and more prosperous. The move is part of Mayor Garcetti’s broader effort to make Los Angeles the most sustainable city in America.

By signing the C40 Fossil-Fuel-Free Streets Declaration, the mayors pledged to purchase only zero-emission buses in their cities by 2025. They also committed to eliminating emissions in designated areas of their cities by 2030. The policies are designed to fight air pollution, improve the quality of life, and help tackle the global threat of climate change.

“Los Angeles is already leading the way with our landmark program to build the largest municipal electric vehicle fleet in America,” said Mayor Garcetti. “This pledge expands that effort, and affirms our commitment to building cleaner, healthier communities across our city.”

The policies build on Los Angeles’ recent efforts to implement zero emissions technology, including L.A. Metro’s goal to realize a 100% zero emission bus fleet by 2030, and launching the first EV carshare program designed for disadvantaged communities.

Under Mayor Garcetti’s leadership, L.A. launched an electric vehicle procurement effort (known as the EV RFI) on behalf of 30 other cities, to spur market innovation and growth across the country. The City is also working with truck manufacturers and the Port of Los Angeles to achieve zero-emissions goods movement by 2035.

Electric vehicles are not the only strategy the City is using to go fossil fuel free. In November 2016, voters in L.A. County overwhelmingly passed the Mayor’s bold transportation initiative, Measure M, which will provide $120 billion in funding over the next 40 years to accelerate current rail projects, add new rail lines, and finish a comprehensive, world-class transit system extending across Los Angeles County. And in July, Metro endorsed a goal of moving to a 100% zero emissions bus fleet by 2030 —  the most ambitious timeline of any big city in America.

Today’s declaration was signed by the mayors of 12 cities who made the pledge during the annual steering committee meeting of the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group — an international network of megacities committed to taking action against climate change and working locally to achieve the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement. Mayor Garcetti is C40 vice-chair and serves as one of 12 members of the organization’s steering committee.  The initial group of signatories to the declaration includes London, Paris, Los Angeles, Copenhagen, Barcelona, Quito, Vancouver, Mexico City, Milan, Seattle, Auckland, and Cape Town.

Mayor Garcetti also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Olympic Cooperation with Anne Hidalgo, the Mayor of Paris and the Chair of C40. Paris will host the 2024 and Los Angeles the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The two cities will build on their already close ties to cooperate and share best practices in the areas of sustainability, inclusiveness, and innovation.

“Mayor Hidalgo and I are united in our belief that the Olympic Games are defined by inspiration and transformation,” said Mayor Garcetti. “Our Games are an opportunity to work together and to demonstrate that by addressing our global challenges at the local level, we can find sustainable solutions that create jobs, improve public health, and grow our economies.”