Leaders of the world's largest cities, together with CEOs of international corporations, will convene in New York City next week to pursue joint efforts to.... Leaders of the world's largest cities, together with CEOs of international corporations, will convene in New York City next week to pursue joint efforts to combat global warming while insuring economic benefits for cities. The occasion is the C40 Large Cities Climate Summit, a gathering of Mayors dedicated to reducing carbon emissions and to developing infrastructure that encourages more efficient use of energy.

Highlights will include a keynote address by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, as well as presentations by Former President Clinton and other internationally known figures, including Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London; Shintaro Ishihara, Governor of Tokyo; Richard Daley, Mayor of Chicago; David Miller, Mayor of Toronto; Oh Se-hoon, Mayor of Seoul; Marcelo Ebrard Casaubon, Mayor of Mexico City; George David, Chairman & CEO of United Technologies Corporation; Klaus Kleinfeld, President & CEO of Siemens; Alain Belda, Chairman & CEO of Alcoa; and Charles Prince, Chairman & CEO of Citigroup, Inc. Jamie Dimon, Chairman & CEO of JP Morgan Chase & Co. and Richard Parsons, Chairman & CEO of Time Warner, will host gala dinners for the international delegations on May 15 and 16, respectively.

Cities are responsible for three-quarters of the world’s energy consumption and, therefore, must play a critical role in the reduction of carbon emissions and the reversal of dangerous climate change. The Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI) is working with members of the C40 to develop and implement a range of programs that will quickly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. CCI is providing technical experts to individual cities, pooling the buying power of these cities to lower prices on energy saving products, creating a common emissions measurement tool and sharing best practices. CCI has partnered with a range of the world’s leading organizations and institutions to achieve these objectives. The C40 and the Clinton Climate Initiative will announce important global initiatives during the summit.

Thirty-two mayors plan to personally participate in the summit, and delegations from a total of 46 cities from six continents are scheduled to attend. This includes the world's largest cities, as well as some smaller cities that are at the forefront of innovative efforts to reduce their carbon footprint. Participating cities include Addis Ababa, Austin, Bangkok, Barcelona, Beijing, Berlin, Bogotá, Cairo, Chicago, Copenhagen, Curitiba, Delhi, Dhaka, Houston, Istanbul, Jakarta, Johannesburg, Karachi, Lagos, Lima, London, Los Angeles, Madrid, Melbourne, Mexico City, Mumbai, New Orleans, New York, Paris, Philadelphia, Portland, Rio de Janeiro, Rome, Rotterdam, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, Sao Paulo, Seattle, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Stockholm, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto and Warsaw.

Underwriters of the summit include David Rockefeller and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund as well as JP Morgan Chase & Co., Alcoa, Deutsche Bank, Hearst Corporation, Shell, Siemens, Time Warner, BSkyB, Citi, Con Edison, Federated Department Stores/Macy’s, GE, KeySpan, KPMG LLP, Swiss Re & Tishman Speyer.

The event has been organized by the Partnership for New York City, on behalf of the Bloomberg Administration and the C40. Other organizers of the summit include New York City Global Partners, Inc. (formerly the Sister Cities Program), The Climate Group and ICLEI U.S.A. (both leading NGOs in the area of climate change).

On behalf of the Summit, The New York City Partnership Foundation has made donations to The Climate Trust (TCT) and CommunityEnergy to offset the 1,118 metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) the Summit and its related activities will emit. TCT’s portfolio provides funding to diverse projects from wind farms to tree planting to traffic light optimization that reduce the impact of greenhouse gases on the environment. The donation to CommunityEnergy will purchase 190 MWh of emissions-free, wind-generated electricity, which will enter the local electric grid for the event. HDR Inc. calculated the carbon footprint of the Summit pro-bono.