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.

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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Adaptation and resilience at COP27: Priorities for implementation

The Egyptian COP27 President ensured attendees would not forget: This was the Implementation COP. Each morning, as conference-goers shuffled through security stalls at the entrance of the Sharm El Sheikh International Convention Center venue, they were greeted with “Time for Implementation” scrolled across the UN-blue walls. Over five years into the Paris Agreement, could the 

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At last, COP27 spotlights food systems

COP27 has made it clear: this year, countries should be standing “Together For Implementation”. To this end, global leaders have come together in Sharm El Sheikh (Egypt) over the past two weeks to discuss the climate actions necessary to collectively meet Paris Agreement targets. And, for the first time at a UN Climate Change Conference, 

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In a historic move, nature takes center stage at COP27

“The outcome of COP27 will be crucial, not just in terms of tackling the climate crisis, but also to safeguard the future for nature”, said Elizabeth Mrema, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (SCBD). COP27 is critical for nature as it precedes the delivery of the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) 

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LGMA at COP27: Rounding up the first week

This piece was written by Yunus Arikan and edited by Sajili Oberoi from ICLEI World Secretariat. Here’s a quick recap of the first week of COP27 (i.e. SB57) that concluded on November 12 on Saturday in Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt. The first week round up provides insight for all cities, regions and relevant stakeholders 

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