Opinions, ideas and knowledge you can apply to local and regional sustainable development.

Explore this blog to learn from local leaders, municipal staff and experts from around the world.

What is the progress on the Global Plastic Treaty and how it could impact subnational governments

2023 has been a year of tremendous progress for Circular Development, but we have a lot more work that needs to be accelerated as 2030 is not far away. At the same time, we need to ensure that all gains made towards making our cities, provinces, and states, circular and sustainable are not lost. ICLEI’s Circular 

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Launch of Tokyo-NbS Action

Written by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Bureau of Environment. (translation by ICLEI Japan)   Nature-based solutions (NbS) are one of several targets in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, adopted at the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biodiversity held in December 2022.   What is NbS? The approach to solve various social 

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Can you build an investment-ready climate project?

How can we build capacity for local and regional officials to access diverse funding sources for climate adaptation and mitigation projects? Between 13-16 February, UrbanShift hosted the Marrakech City Academy for Africa in Morocco, engaging nearly 80 participants from 25 cities across seven countries in intensive learning on Climate Finance and Urban Biodiversity. ICLEI led 

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Insuring our future: Strengthening disaster resilience in Latin America and the Caribbean

In November 2023, the Urban Infrastructure Insurance Facility (UIIF) Project hosted its first in-person event in San José, Costa Rica. The gathering brought together representatives from various Latin American and Caribbean cities and ICLEI, united by a common goal: To enhance their understanding and management of natural disasters. The dialogue was a melting pot of 

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Fair public financing: German cities push forward with attempts to make subsidy schemes more equitable

This piece was written by Olga Horn, Senior Officer, ICLEI World Secretariat & Daniel Botha, Expert Justice, Equity and Democracy, ICLEI European Secretariat  To expedite the renewable energy transition and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, many cities worldwide provide funding programs to assist residents – for instance in insulating their buildings or installing photovoltaics (PV) on 

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The City of São Paulo is on the move: Driving sustainable public transport

A wave of sustainable mobility is reshaping urban public transport in Brazil, led by the City of São Paulo’s pioneering eco-mobility solutions, boasting the largest fleet of electric buses in Latin America. With ambitious goals to cut carbon emissions by 50% by 2028, explore how this 12 million-people megacity is paving the way for a 

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Synchronize your calendar with our pick of urban sustainable development events

Keep important sustainability events right in your own calendar! You can subscribe to a global events list that highlights political events (such as UNFCCC meetings), webinars (from our Advocacy team and more), and conferences that contribute to the world of sustainable urban development, and synchronizes directly with the calendar client you already use. This list 

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CityFood in 2024: What’s cooking?

This piece was written by the ICLEI CityFood team. 2023 marked another big step to further consolidate food as a game changer, its interdependence with biodiversity, climate and health, and the need to address these systemically to achieve progress. With ten years on the ground, ICLEI’s CityFood is one of the oldest urban food programmes 

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Top 10 global sustainability events not to miss in 2024

In 2024, the global climate agenda is at a critical juncture following the outcomes of COP28, which have been described as the “beginning of the end” of the fossil fuel era. The stocktake at COP28 recognized the urgent need to cut global greenhouse gas emissions by 43% by 2030, compared to 2019 levels, to address 

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The Announcement of the ESD Okayama Award 2023 Winners and the Report of the Award Ceremony

Okayama City and the ESD Okayama Award Steering Board are pleased to announce that the following two projects have been selected for the ESD Okayama Award 2023, which recognizes outstanding ESD (Education for Sustainable Development) activities in Japan and abroad. On November 23, 2023, Okayama City and the Okayama ESD Promotion Commission invited representatives of 

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