Though the focus of a recent trip to Paris, France was on mitigating the impacts of climate change and adapting to new norms, Mayor Cam Guthrie also returned with potential collaborations on agricultural and gender equality efforts.
Guthrie attended a summit of the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy, of which he is a member, from July 24 to 26. There were 40 to 50 mayors from throughout the world in attendance, Guthrie said, noting the event and travel was paid for by Bloomberg Philanthropies.
“A lot of it was to hear from other mayors around the world of what they're doing in their cities when it comes to climate mitigation and climate adaptation,” Guthrie told GuelphToday.
“We also were able to learn quite a bit from the City of Paris around – and this is what excited me about getting invited to go – was how they transformed their downtown for active transportation, and especially bicycles. And so, we were able to see that firsthand, the transformation that's happened in Paris.”
In addition, Guthrie noted the various mayors had opportunities to network and share ideas. It’s that part of the summit which generated a couple of off-topic cooperation initiatives.
One involves a mayor from Lebanon. Guthrie explained there’s an effort in that community to advance tree sap technologies, similar to the collection of maple sap here, and he’s working to connect officials there with agriculture experts at the University of Guelph.
The other flows from a conversation with a mayor from Argentina, which asked about partnering with the City of Guelph for a program aimed at fostering gender equality and getting more women involved with politics.
“I didn't only go (to the summit in Paris) for learning about climate change and climate adaptation and mitigation, but I was also able to come back with these two promising leads for connections between our city and those other cities,” Guthrie said.
“I do these things on behalf of the city. It’s my job.”
While in Paris, Guthrie took in the opening ceremonies for the 2024 Summer Olympics – something he said was arranged through the office of the mayor of Paris.
“Being able to cheer for Canada and athletes going by in the boat was probably a huge highlight,” he added.
This wasn’t Guthrie’s first trip abroad with the Global Covenant of Mayors. Last year he participated in a summit held in Dubai.
He returned from that trip with $50,000 to go toward youth climate action, which resulted in 24 submissions from youth groups seeking funding.
“All of this, the funding, the networking, the knowledge transfer has all been invaluable,” said Guthrie. “I'm very honoured to be a part of this.”
Depending on the success of the youth initiatives, Guthrie said Guelph may be eligible for the program’s second round of funding, which provides $100,000.
