ICLEI Strategy 2010-2015 – our plan for the future
- Konrad Otto-Zimmermann, ICLEI Secretary General
7 October
We have a new strategy! Konrad Otto-Zimmermann, ICLEI Secretary General, shared the cornerstones of the strategic plan with the congress participants in Incheon on 7 October.
The strategy emphasizes some key elements that will guide the future work of ICLEI :
Rapid Action, Radical Solutions
ICLEI Members are doing fantastic work and are making a difference in sustainable development in their area. However, the need to hold climate change, biodiversity loss and resource depletion requires us to act much more rapidly and far more radical.
A planet of Cities
Today megacities are larger than half of the smaller UN member states. Two-thirds of the population will be living in cities by 2050. We have been fighting for the recognition of local government as major actors and we will continued do so, building our work around the new realities that we all are facing.
Connecting Leaders
ICLEI has established itself as a major hub for municipal leaders, academic experts and decision makers from the public and private sectors and developed a strong profile in sustainability and climate change policy opposite national governments on the global stage. View ICLEI's Connecting Leaders brochures in pdf form:
Connect. Innovate. Accelerate. Solve.
Global Action Partners
The Cities Network
Messages to the G20, COP10 CBD, COP16 UNFCCC
ICLEI is making its voice heard by preparing key messages regarding the role of cities and local government in taking action and delivering solutions to tackle climate change, preserve biodiversity and achieve sustainability.
Calling for a green economy
Addressing the G20, ICLEI is emphasizing that bold global agreements are needed to secure sustainable future economic development that will deliver better returns on natural, human and economic capital investments and uses less natural resources and reduces social disparities. ICLEI also calls for the role of local governments and their achievements in delivering sustainable development to be recognized at international level and supported with directly accessible resources.
Read the full message to the G20
Need for a functioning eco-system
Our current way of consuming resource on a local level is effecting our eco-system on a global scale. At the UN conference on biological diversity in Nagoya, Japan, next week, local governments call upon all other levels of government and supra-national actors to ensure that a framework for action is created as many challenges to the eco-system go beyond local scope even though their consequences can be felt locally.
Read the full message to the UN biodiversity talks
- Get involved! Get ready! Read the special briefing ahead of the UN biological diversity talks here.
- Find out more about the Biodiversity Roadmap here www.iclei.org/biodiversity
Goals to tackle climate change have to be met this time
Since the climate negotiations in Copenhagen fell short of a comprehensive post-2012 agreement, the goals that national governments have agreed on so far will not be enough to limit global warming to a maximum of 2°C increase.
The message to the UN climate conference in Cancun, Mexico, in December is that local governments have been active in fighting climate change and building resilience at the local level. They are calling for their role to be recognized in future international climate agreements and decisions and that their active involvement is supported. The provisions of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) should be revised and capacity of local governments increased so that they have better access to global carbon financing.
Read the full message to the UN climate talks
Find out more about the Climate Roadmap: www.iclei.org/climateroadmap
Korean local leaders join forces
- Local Governments Summit on Sustainability
The Korean Local Agenda 21 and ICLEI co-hosted the Local Governments Summit on Sustainability as a special session at the Future of Cities congress today,
The summit was the first of its kind for local governments in Korea. In the presence of Martin Lees, Senior Adviser to the Club of Rome, David Cadman, ICLEI President and Young-gil Song, Mayor of Incheon, local government leaders signed a green manifesto.
The leaders agreed to pursue sustainability in their communities and to conduct the summit as a regular forum to discuss sustainability issues.
Launch of ICLEI's Incheon Eco-efficiency Challenge
- Launching the Incheon Eco-efficiency Challenge
The Incheon Eco-efficiency Challenge, launching today at the Future of Cities congress closing plenary, will kick-start a race among cities all over the world. The goal? To set an incentive for cities to become eco-efficient.
The Challenge will engage cities in a spirit of positive competition and allow them to showcase achievements along the way. It's also a chance for cities to ask critical questions in order to reevaluate the way they function and do business. How can cities make better decisions about infrastructure investments and procurement? How can a city's goods and services be delivered in a sustainable way?
NGOs, urban researchers, urban consultants, local businesses or households are called upon to report to ICLEI any measured, proven increase in eco-efficiency of a city. Increases in eco-efficiency can be brought about by an entire city as well as a district, facility, building complex – even a piece of infrastructure. Success stories are invited from municipalities and private actors. In exchange for action, ICLEI will showcase these successes with the most successful city projects being awarded on the occasion of international events very year.
The challenge is being launched at the dawn of a new era: the old industrial world of biggest, tallest, fastest is being traded in for a new urban paradigm which prizes low-carbon eco-efficiency as the new 'most prestigious'. This is the way of the future . This is why we need a challenge - to motivate joint and focused action from municipalities.
Read more about ICLEI's Incheon Eco-efficiency Challenge
