As he heads to Paris this week, Mayor Kasim Reed will be focused mainly on COP21 climate talks, but he also sees the trip as a chance to show Atlanta’s support for a fellow municipality still jarred by the Nov. 13 terrorist attacks.
“We will have a meeting of mayors. The mayor of Paris is hosting us, so my sense is that there will be some form of conversation about solidarity. I think going to Paris right now in this environment is also a personal symbol and a symbol on behalf of Atlanta to Paris,” Mr. Reed said on the sidelines of an economic development announcement downtown Wednesday.
He noted that Atlanta has a sister city relationship with the French city of Toulouse, whose mayor will also be present at the United Nations forum on climate change, where leaders are aiming to hammer out a deal to curb global greenhouse gases. A delegation of city leaders including investment boosters from Toulouse was in Atlanta in November shoring up business and cultural ties.
The visit comes on the heels of the mayor’s speech to a U.S.-China forum on climate change in Los Angeles and announcements that he city will install solar panels on 28 fire stations and recreation centers while aiming to reduce energy usage at city buildings. Earlier this year, the city council also approved $270 million to dig a tunnel connecting the Bellwood Quarry with Atlanta’s Westside water works. The aim is to increase the city’s reserve water supply from three days to 30 or more.
Mr. Reed said his focus in Paris will be sharing knowledge with other city leaders and learning what’s being done to reduce carbon emissions and stabilize weather patterns globally. He noted in a statement that while the problem is global, the solutions are often enacted locally.
“Something is definitely going on with our climate,” he said Wednesday. “Last year was the hottest year on record. Something is going on and we’ve got to do something about it, and we know that if you reduce carbon emissions you improve weather stability, so that’s the position I’m taking.”
The Dean Rusk International Law Center at the University of Georgia is the presenting sponsor of Global Atlanta's Diplomacy Channel. Subscribe here for monthly Diplomacy newsletters.
