UNFCCC<\/a>), the progress will be monitored, and the companies will regularly publish information on their actions. This joint venture was launched by the City of Reykjav\u00edk and Festa \u2013 the Icelandic Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility.<\/p>\nThe signing of the Declaration marks the formal commencement of the project and is intended to motivate businesses and institutions to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases, thus actively taking responsibility towards global environmental concerns and their local community.<\/p>\n
Participants will reportedly be offered information about climate issues \u2013 both practical guidance and accounts of the experience of other businesses in reducing their greenhouse emissions. The businesses which are affiliated to Festa, the agencies and institutions of the City of Reykjav\u00edk, as well as 300 of the largest companies in Iceland, were invited to take part in the project.<\/p>\n
The UNFCCC-backed declaration touches the lives of more than 70,000 people directly as the companies employ a total of more than 43,000 people in addition to over 30,000 students who attend the educational institutions which are participating.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the services provided by these businesses and agencies are said to affect every person in Iceland, in one way or another. In addition to its leadership of the project, the City of Reykjav\u00edk will also participate in measures to reduce emissions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe policy of the City of Reykjav\u00edk is to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases by 35 per cent by 2020,\u201d said its Mayor Dagur B. Eggertsson.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis policy was first formulated in 2009, and it now forms a part of the Reykjav\u00edk Municipal Plan. The City administration is also developing strategies to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases arising from its own activities. The City of Reykjav\u00edk will certainly make its own contribution in this collaborative project, and we will also be able to learn much from our collaboration with businesses,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
The Declaration, which was signed in Reykjavik\u2019s H\u00f6f\u00f0i House says \u201cthe nations of the world now face the consequences of climate change,\u201d and that \u201cthe United Nations play a leading role in analysing the problem, addressing it, and adjusting to altered conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n
It also highlights that \u201ccities and towns, together with businesses of all sizes, have a growing role to play with respect to reducing emissions of greenhouse gases, and meeting targets regarding emissions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Ketill Berg Magn\u00fasson, the CEO of Festa, said that many managers of businesses relate environmental issues to the long-term prospects of their companies.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have realized that the operations of businesses must be in harmony with the society in which they operate,\u201d Mr. Magn\u00fasson said, adding that businesses around the world have increasingly been taking a stand on environmental issues.<\/p>\n
via UN News Centre<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ahead of the UN climate change conference starting on 30 November, a declaration on climate issues has been signed in Iceland by the city of Reykjavik and more than one hundred businesses and institutions, all pledging to take active measures to cut global warming by reducing emissions of greenhouse gases and cut waste.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":230,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20,16,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12285","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-climate-change","category-economic-growth","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12285","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/230"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12285"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12285\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}