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.

Nine ways design can forge a circular economy in cities

Ecodesign and the circular economy are interconnected concepts that share the common objective of addressing environmental challenges and promoting sustainable practices. While they share the same goals, they operate at distinct phases within a product’s lifecycle, resulting in a comprehensive approach to sustainable development.   What is Ecodesign? Ecodesign, also known as sustainable design or 

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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 make their case for multilevel climate action at the kickoff of Daring Cities 2023

Daring Cities 2023 started with a bang with a hybrid two-day event alongside the UNFCCC Bonn Climate Talks (SB58) in Bonn, Germany this past week. Local leaders sat face-to-face with national negotiators to make the case for urban inclusion in national goals and implementation strategies, and our host City of Bonn celebrated entry into the 

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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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Gyeonggi-do unveils ‘Gyeonggi RE100 Vision’ for a sustainable future

At the end of last year, Gyeonggi-do(province) was selected as the host local government for ICLEI Korea from 2023 to 2027. As the head of the host local government, Governor Dong-Yeon Kim was appointed as a member of the Global Executive Committee for the 2021-2024 term. Gino Van Begin, Secretary General of ICLEI, welcomed this 

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Addressing the climate crisis in socially unequal areas: Global funds, poverty eradication and risk management

This blog has been written by Alessia Salamon from the Resilient Development team, and edited by Matteo Bizzotto, from the Global Communications team at ICLEI World Secretariat It is widely recognized that the impacts of the climate crisis are not evenly felt across the world. In fact, developing countries and cities often lack appropriate coping 

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Will the fight against climate change SURGe in 2023?

Since COP27 wound down late last year (November 6-18), much of the post event commentary has centered on the fact that as observed by The Conversation, the gathering “failed to go beyond the 2021 Glasgow climate pact’s promise to phase down unabated coal power (and) announced no new targets or commitments” tied to reducing greenhouse 

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Fighting climate change in Pakistan: The case of Karachi

This blog was written by Izzah Sheikh and edited by Sajili Oberoi and Matteo Bizzotto, from ICLEI World Secretariat Karachi, one of the most populated cities in the world and the financial capital of Pakistan, is strongly committed to accelerated climate action. Like many other industrial cities, Karachi faces problems that are further exacerbated by 

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Post COP27: ICLEI welcomes climate emergency financing, calls for action to address biodiversity crisis

In the weeks and months leading up to COP27, the signs for a successful conference were not particularly encouraging. There was the ongoing failure to meet energy cuts and the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) that the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitters had previously committed to. Environmental activist Greta Thunberg announced she would not attend, portraying 

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Just Transition: A Necessity for a City’s Sustainable Development

This piece was written with contributions from Next Urban Idea Ltd. and ICLEI KCC, and edited by Matteo Bizzotto and Sajili Oberoi, ICLEI World Secretariat. Photo credit: New Taipei City Government How can the most populated city in Asia be a pioneer of sustainability and climate resilience? Climate crisis is hitting us all on an 

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