Portland Mayor Hales To Talk Climate Change With Pope Francis

By Amelia Templeton

Published June 16, 2015 at 1:52 PM PDT

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Portland Mayor Charlie Hales led the procession on Saturday June 6, 2015 for the 2015 Portland Rose Festival, an annual tradition of Portland that dates back to the early 20th century.

Alan Sylvestre

The Vatican has invited Portland Mayor Charlie Hales to discuss climate change and human trafficking with Pope Francis. The city says Hales is one of 16 mayors from around the world chosen to attend a papal summit on July 21.

Pope Francis is issuing a decree this week on climate change. In a draft leaked by an Italian magazine, he backed the scientific explanation of climate change, and linked the issue to global inequality and poverty.

Portland was the first city in the nation to adopt a local plan for cutting greenhouse gases. The city has reduced its carbon emissions by 14 percent since 1990. During that same period, U.S. emissions have increased 7 percent.