Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante will be in New York for climate week

Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante tries to attract a monarch butterfly in the Insectarium in Montreal, on Wednesday, November 9, 2022. Plante made an announcement on the protection of pollinating insects ahead of a U.N. conference on biodiversity next month in Montreal. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson

Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante will be in New York for Climate Week, which is being held there until Sunday.

Plante will participate, as co-president, in a meeting of the steering committee of the C40 network, which brings together cities engaged in the ecological transition.

The mayors of London, Paris, Tokyo, Buenos Aires, Nairobi and Dakar are also taking part.

The mayor will return in particular to Montreal's commitment, a declaration signed by 61 cities on the occasion of COP15 last year on the preservation of ecosystems.

She will also deliver a speech at the Nasdaq annual conference, aiming to address sustainable finance, on Tuesday.

On the same theme, a discussion table organized by Montréal International, Finance Montréal and Investissement Québec International will take place.

Plante will take part with around 10 organizations.

"We no longer talk about climate without talking about finances," said Plante. "And we should certainly no longer talk about finances without talking about the climate. Sustainable finance will be at the heart of this mission, which is a great opportunity to seize to present Montreal initiatives, draw inspiration from best practices and create new partnerships."

An economic announcement is expected to take place on Wednesday, with a company announcing its expansion into Montreal.

Plante will be visiting the United Nations headquarters on Wednesday for a round table on the ecological transition.

She will not be the only Quebec politician in New York this week.

Quebec Premier François Legault was invited by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to attend the United Nations General Assembly and participate in the first Summit on Climate Ambition.

Quebec Environment Minister Benoit Charette will also be there all week.

Discussions will also take place between Montreal's mayor and the mayor of New York, Eric Adams, to discuss subjects such as ecological transition, homelessness, housing, transportation and security.

Plante will be at the Strong Cities Network World Summit on Thursday, chaired by Adams. She is due to deliver the closing speech on the theme "Strengthening resilience and social cohesion: the role of cities in confronting polarization."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Sept. 28, 2023.