Mayors and elected officials from many parts of the world came together at the Local Leaders Climate Summit of the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) in Paris with the objective of achieving 100 percent renewable energy use in their cities by 2050. During the summit, some 700 mayors representing 600 million people from around the world addressed the issue of fighting climate change and discussed objectives such as reducing gas emissions by 80 percent. The cities which were represented by the participating local leaders at the summit are home to half of the world's population and produce roughly 67 percent of current gas emissions.
Istanbul Mayor Kadir Topbaş chaired the "President of the World Municipalities Association" summit and said the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality will conduct data analysis and then develop a comprehensive road map to reduce carbon emissions, adding that the municipality will first prepare a climate action plan and then carry out an ecological restoration campaign. To this end, there are projects planned to encourage people to use bikes more and establish waste incineration plants.