Mayors of cities from Lisbon to New Orleans called on Thursday for urgent global action to tackle climate change that could see hundreds of coastal metropolises swamped with water.
The C40 World Mayors Summit in Copenhagen gathered leaders of 94 world cities that are home to more than 700 million people and represent one quarter of the global economy.
Their meeting comes a month after a United Nations study delivered a stark warning to the world: slash emissions or watch cities vanish under rising seas, rivers run dry and marine life collapse.