Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson and other mayors met Pope Francis to talk about the role of cities in addressing climate change, sustainability and poverty. Robertson was the only mayor from Canada to attend.
Robertson is in Vatican City as a participant in a two-day workshop with the Pope in which climate change and “modern slavery” are to be discussed among city and state leaders, including the mayors of Seattle and Portland and California Gov. Jerry Brown.
“Climate change is the most urgent challenge facing humanity today, and it was a remarkable honour to meet with Pope Francis to discuss how cities and the global community can and must act in concert to drastically reduce climate pollution,” Robertson said in a press release. “Pope Francis' leadership will build on the resounding unity of big cities worldwide in calling for meaningful and binding emissions targets, and for a climate agreement signed in Paris that respects the needs of our cities, our planet and generations to come.”
