The UN: The United Nations urged better "green" planning for burgeoning cities yesterday, annual World Environment Day, which was marked by rallies, tree-plantings and clean-ups from Australia to Zimbabwe.
By 2030, more than 60 per cent of the world's population would live in cities, up from almost half now and just a third in 1950, secretary general Kofi Annan said. The growth poses huge problems, ranging from clean water to waste collection.
"Already, one of every three urban dwellers lives in a slum," he said in a statement. "Let us create green cities," he said, urging better planning and investment in everything from sanitation to public transport.
Mr Annan said city planning was often haphazard, especially in poor nations where urban growth was likely to be fastest. Unless city planning improved, the UN goal of halving poverty by 2015 would not be met.
Activists around the world mark June 5th, the date of the first environmental summit in Stockholm in 1972, as the UN's World Environment Day.
In San Francisco, the main host of the event, mayors from more than 50 cities including Shanghai, Kabul, Buenos Aires, Sydney, Phnom Penh, Jakarta, Rome and Istanbul plan to sign up for a scheme setting new green standards for city planning.
Also yesterday, a group in Sri Lanka planted trees to help build up the coastline after the devastating December 26th tsunami. In Greece, the port of Zakynthos banned cars and allowed free public transport.
"The battle for sustainable development, for delivering a more environmentally stable, just and healthier world, is going to be largely won and lost in our cities," said Klaus Toepfer, head of the UN environment programme.
Managed well, cities can help protect the environment by reducing pressure on rural areas where humans can threaten the habitats of animals and plants, he said.
The mayors' meeting in San Francisco set goals including a cut in emissions of heat-trapping gases from cars, factories and power plants by 25 per cent by 2030.
Other targets for the cities will include ensuring that residents will not have to walk more than 500m in 2015 to reach public transport or an open space.- (Reuters)