What Do Mayors From Tehran And New Orleans Have In Common? Climate Change.

For two days, mayors from around the world are meeting at the Vatican to discuss the seemingly unrelated issues of climate change and human trafficking. At first glance, the representatives invited to the conference might also seem unrelated. Mayors from well-known bastions of sustainability, like San Francisco and Seattle, are working alongside representatives from places that one might not readily associate with climate change, like Tehran and Florence. But, in advance of climate negotiations to be held in Paris later this year, the Vatican hopes that bringing these seemingly mismatched leaders together will bring the world one step closer to a global agreement on climate change, an issue that Pope Francis has called“one of the principal challenges facing humanity in our day.” The Vatican has reason to be optimistic: in one way or another, all of the mayors invited are dealing with the impacts of climate change in their home cities. Here’s a look at how global warming and environmental issues are impacting six cities represented at the conference — and what those cities are doing to try to cope with the consequences of a changing climate.

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