Accelerating the Race to Zero carbon: Multiple paths leading to the same destination

From left to right: Shinjiro Koizumi, Minister of Environment of Japan; Minna Arve, Mayor of Turku, Finland; Ashok Sridharan, Mayor of Bonn, Germany, and ICLEI President. One of the toughest parts of fulfilling the Paris Agreement goals is understanding the path to success. What does it take to muster the political will and support to 

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Four issues to watch at the unstoppable COP25

Written by Yunus Arikan, Head of ICLEI Global Advocacy and Policy, and Matteo Bizzotto, Junior Communications Officer After a turbulent last-minute change of host country, COP25 is underway in Madrid, Spain, from 2 to 13 December 2019 under the Presidency of Chile. This is not the first time the organization of this UNFCCC event has 

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Top 5 takeaways for cities and regions from the UN Climate Action Summit

For this year’s Climate Action Summit in New York, UN Secretary-General António Guterres called on leaders to bring concrete, realistic plans to enhance their nationally determined contributions by 2020, plans that would bring nations in line to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 45 per cent over the next decade and to net zero emissions by 

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[Infographic] How ICLEI’s five pathways contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals

The Sustainable Development Goals are 17 goals to transform our world. These goals are part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which countries adopted in 2015. They are a call to action by all countries to encourage economic prosperity while protecting the earth and its resources. The goals demonstrate that economic growth is interconnected 

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When science meets policy and practice: Top 3 ways to achieve Paris goals

We need to dig in and build stronger links between climate science, urban policy and practice. The interconnection between the three perspectives is critical to creating coherent policy frameworks driven by hard data and scientific evidence, and informed by practitioner expertise. Urban areas account for about 70 percent of global energy-related greenhouse gas emissions, and 

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ICLEI’s top 5 takeaways from COP23

COP23, the 23rd United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bonn, Germany, came to a close on 18 November 2017. Here are our top takeaways and assessment of what it all means for local and regional governments – and for global climate action.   1. COP23 proved that the Paris Agreement is unstoppable and irreversible – 

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United in ambition – cities and regions at COP23 in Bonn

From 6 to 17 November, COP23, this year’s UNFCCC climate change conference, will take place in Bonn. Two years after the Paris Agreement was reached, and one year after it came into force, climate action is coming to a crossroad again. The Bonn COP, hosted by UNFCCC under the Presidency of Fiji, is meant to 

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COP23 is on track to set the scene for multilevel, multistakeholder climate action. This is how success could look

Every year, there is a United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP). The next one (COP23) will be in Bonn, Germany in November 2017. In between COPs, the UNFCCC organizes mid-year climate negotiation sessions – the so-called intersessionals – which are usually held in Bonn. The May 

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Letter from Gino Van Begin – January

Dear ICLEI friends and colleagues, Local and subnational governments have proven to be a reliable force for positive global change. Now, in 2017, it is vital that we push to make the trend towards sustainable development irreversible. We aim to do so through our actions on the ground, efforts to shape global policy and events 

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“Transformative optimism” towards a resilient world

“Transformative optimism” underlies the actions that local and subnational governments are taking to build a low-carbon and resilient world. It also describes the dedication among national governments that has led to significant advancements in global sustainability policy in recent years. This morning, at the opening plenary of Resilient Cities 2016, Ashok Sridharan, Lord Mayor of Bonn 

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