APCOM

The President of the European Parliament, Mr Hans-Gert Pöttering, will visit New York from the 10th to the 12th of February, where he will participate in a panel on "Rising to the Challenge: Partnerships on Climate Change" in the framework of the Thematic Debate of the UN General Assembly on Climate Change.

Mayor of Milan Letizia Moratti will also participate in the panel which will take place on Monday, February 11. Other participants include Youba Sokona, Sahara and Sahel Observatory, Fiona Harvey, Financial Times, Chen Ying, China Enterprise Confederation and Martin Khor, Third World Network, NGP perspective.

Dealing with climate change is one of the priorities of Hans-Gert Pöttering's mandate as President of the European Parliament. He expressed Parliament's position on this question to the Heads of State and Government of the European Union at the summit meeting on March 8th 2007 asking in particular for binding targets for the reduction of greenhouse gases. Parliament calls for a 30% reduction in greenhouse gasses by 2020 and for 25% of energy to come from renewal sources by the same date.

The city of Milano, which adhered to the "Covenant of Mayors" when it was first launched, last week announced, it will further develop its 2020 goals in terms of the criterion set by the Eu. The plan includes more energetic efficiency, an increase in the use of renewable energy, more adequate communication activities, and the development of large scale sustainable urban areas with a particular focus on citizen's mobility. Within this framework the city has already adopted special measures encouraging the civil society to take part in the action plan.