Montreal mayor Valérie Plante is in Chicago to attend a two-day North American climate summit, which kicked off Monday evening and wraps up Tuesday.
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Former U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to address the gathering of mayors from around the globe to discuss climate change.
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This comes after President Donald Trump said in June that the U.S. will pull out of the Paris climate accord.
Chicago officials are billing the summit as the first of its kind in the city and Mayor Rahm Emanuel says he’s honoured Obama will join.
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He explained mayors are stepping up because there’s no consensus from national governments.
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Without mentioning Trump by name, Emanuel, a former White House chief of staff to Obama, said Trump is in denial on climate change, but shouldn’t ignore science.
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Chicago Chief Sustainability Officer Chris Wheat says the idea is to “fill the void” the Trump administration has left.
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He says 51 mayors will sign a charter and discuss solutions including expanding access to public transportation.
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