(KLFY) Mayors from major cities worldwide will bring expertise and knowledge to newly formed Global Mayors COVID-19 Recovery Task Force.

C40 Cities, at the direction of its Chair and Mayor of Los Angeles, Eric Garcetti, has convened mayors from Freetown, Hong Kong, Lisbon, Medellín, Milan, Melbourne, Montréal, New Orleans, Rotterdam, Seattle and Seoul. 

C40 cities says it chose Mayor LaToya Cantrell to help drive forward a sustainable, equitable economic recovery from the COVID-19 crisis.

The task force, chaired by Mayor of Milan, was established to drive forward an economic recovery that improves public health, reduces inequality and addresses the climate crisis. 

Other members of the task force are:

Chair of the Task Force Mayor of Milan, Italy, Giuseppe Sala;

Mayor of Freetown, Sierra Leone, Yvonne Aki Sawyerr;

Secretary for the Environment of Hong Kong, China, KS Wong;

Mayor of Lisbon, Portugal, Fernando Medina;

Mayor of Rotterdam, Netherlands, Ahmed Aboutaleb;

Mayor of Medellín, Colombia, Daniel Quintero Calle;

Lord Mayor of Melbourne, Australia, Sally Capp;

Mayor of Montréal, Canada, Valérie Plante;

Mayor of New Orleans, USA, LaToya Cantrell;

Mayor of Seattle, USA, Jenny Durkan;

Mayor of Seoul, South Korea, Won-soon Park.

The Task Force will explore ways for the economic recovery from COVID-19 to get people back to work, while ensuring climate breakdown doesn’t become an even bigger crisis for the global economy and the lives and livelihoods of communities worldwide.

“In both matters of climate change and this global pandemic, mayors and their cities are gravely impacted and have to be at the forefront of finding ways to rebuild our economy, particularly in ways that can advance our climate change goals. As we get New Orleanians back to work, we need to focus on creating job opportunities in emerging green and blue sectors — such as urban water management, local manufacturing, coastal restoration, solar, and energy efficiency,” said Mayor Cantrell. “Not only are we creating sustainable jobs for today and tomorrow, we will also improve the long-term health and stability of our city.”

To learn more about C40 cities, click here.