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The Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, today addressed Mayors from 34 of the world's largest cities about the dangers of catastrophic climate change and the need for immediate action.

The Mayor followed Deputy Mayor of New York Dan Doctoroff in opening the C40 Large Cities Climate Summit in New York.

Speaking at the New York Summit, Mayor of London and Chair of the C40 Ken Livingstone said: ?The fight to tackle climate change will be won or lost in cities. Whatever the discussions between our national governments, as cities we are not waiting for anyone else to move first. We are not going to simply talk about what we could do, while the window of opportunity for preventing catastrophic climate change disappears.

?Every city here today is a leader in at least one aspect of the fight to tackle climate change. Sometimes we can appear as competitors, but fundamentally this is not true. We are increasingly interconnected - no city can wall itself off from the consequences of climate change, and no city can prevent catastrophic climate change on its own. We could go it alone, but if we do so in isolation it will take much longer than if we co-operate. Each city's presence here today demonstrates a willingness to work together towards a common cause.

?Together, our cities have considerable purchasing clout and the C40, through the Clinton Climate Initiative, is seeking to unleash that power, driving down the price of the products and services that will enable us to rapidly improve energy efficiency and cut emissions. The programmes which we are going to be able to announce this week and over the coming months are truly ground-breaking. They will create the opportunity for cities to take decisive action to accelerate their emissions reductions and in so doing tilt the balance of the struggle against climate change. Together we can create a critical mass that puts the world on the path to tackling the biggest challenged ever faced by humanity.?