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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Cities empowering youth for climate action: Lessons to replicate (and how to do it)

International Youth Day on 12 August recognizes young people as drivers of change. How can local and regional governments effectively engage them? From energy mentoring programs and youth councils to video campaigns, here are cases for inspiration on how ICLEI Members include youth voices in climate action and a checklist for city leaders to get 

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Cities and Subnationals Weigh in on a Global Plastics Treaty at INC-2

This blog was written in collaboration with Ariel Dekovic, Charis Hoffmann, Kobie Brand, and Togo Uchida from ICLEI. In early 2022, during the resumed Fifth United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA5.2), nation states agreed to establish a binding global plastics treaty by 2024, which should work towards ending plastic pollution. The process to arrive at such 

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Sustainable food systems to have strong presence at COP27 in Egypt

The 2021 UN Food Systems Summit stood as a stepping stone for putting food systems at the center of the international policy agenda. Since then, food systems have never had such a prominent role in intergovernmental processes, as it is now widely acknowledged they are tightly intertwined with many global issues – from social inequalities 

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Making school meals healthy for our children and planet

Shifting school meals and schools into a new paradigm to address public health and territorial, social, and environmental resilience: This is the aim of the SchoolFood4Change project. This article was written by Amalia Ochoa, Sustainable Food Systems Coordinator, and Monika Rut, Sustainable Food Systems Officer, at ICLEI Europe. Schools have the potential of being the 

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Listen. Include. Empower. How local communities take central stage at COP26

Subnational governments have found their home at the Multilevel Action Pavilion at COP26, a place for debate, knowledge exchange, and success stories of subnational climate action and collaboration. As the Pavilion’s motto “Time4MultilevelAction” suggests, collaboration between all levels of governments and different stakeholders must now become the new normal. That spirit was fully embodied by 

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A Cities and Regions Guide to COP26

Everything your city or region needs to know about this year’s global climate event and driving multilevel climate action during and beyond the summit. Want to be a part of the action in Glasgow? The Multilevel Action Pavilion is in-person and online! Register today! The 26th climate COP is a critical summit for global climate 

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5 speakers not to miss at Daring Cities 2021

On 4-8 October, Daring Cities 2021 will be bringing you the latest on urban sustainability from citymakers worldwide. From the Philippines to Ecuador, we’ve hand-selected the best and most daring of city leaders for you to get to know! You’ll hear from the trailblazers who are calling out corporate energy giants as perpetrators of climate 

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Betting on Multilevel Climate Action for COP26 in Glasgow

On 17-18 March 2021, the Ministry of Environment of Japan will convene the Zero Carbon City International Forum, which has been recognized as 2021’s first global dialogue to advance multilevel action under the Paris Agreement. This dialogue is convened in collaboration with the UN Climate Change Secretariat (UNFCCC), the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), 

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