New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio signed an executive order Friday that reaffirmed the city’s commitment to upholding the goals of the Paris climate change agreement despite President Trump withdrawing the U.S. from the agreement.
“We here in New York City are shocked at the development this week in Washington, D.C., to see the president of the United States pull out of the Paris accord and literally set this nation, and the whole globe, on the path of denial,” de Blasio said.
We're taking matters into our own hands. pic.twitter.com/F3zHYHVBFR
— NYC Mayor's Office (@NYCMayorsOffice) June 2, 2017
De Blasio’s order instructs New York City to adopt the principles of the Paris climate agreement, supporting its key principles of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050 and keeping a global temperature increase below 1.5 degrees Celsius.
It directs city agencies to work with the mayor’s Office of Sustainability to create a plan by September 30 to further reduce their own greenhouse gas emissions, and notes that New York City will work with other U.S. cities, states and countries to meet commitments set in the agreement.
I signed Executive Order 26 because New York City's future is threatened by climate change. We will honor the goals of the #ParisAgreement. pic.twitter.com/ujskQl2q2o
— Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) June 2, 2017
“The actions of President Trump have undermined what we’re doing and what cities and states all over the country are doing, and that means we have to go farther,” de Blasio said. “We have to take matters into our own hands.”
In a series of tweets on Wednesday, de Blasio slammed Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States from the agreement, calling it “horribly destructive.”
De Blasio joins Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto, who also signed an executive order this week affirming his city’s compliance with the Paris agreement.