Scientists have urged national leaders for years to tackle climate change, based on the assumption that all nations should take steps in harmony for the success of their prevention efforts. But as anyone who has watched the past 15 years of international climate negotiations can attest, most countries are still reluctant to take meaningful steps to lower their production of greenhouse gases, much less address issues such as how to help developing countries protect themselves from the extreme effects of climate change. Mayors and urban managers are taking over as they have a keener sense about how changing weather patterns will affect their cities’ political and economic futures. Indeed, within months after Hurricane Katrina’s landfall, the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group launched in London in October 2005, and the World Mayors Council on Climate Change (WMCCC) got its start in Kyoto that December. As of June 2011, more than 190 mayors and other local authorities, representing some 300 million people from around the world, have also signed a voluntary pact sponsored by the WMCCC to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. They are tackling climate change, as their cities are suffering from floods, rising sea levels and heat waves. They are innovating ways to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, prevent further changes in weather patterns and benefit from transportation systems that protect the environment.