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At the height of the industrial revolution, Essen was a hub of innovation, technological developments and new ideas. Change is still engrained in its identity, but now the city is leveraging its former industrial glory to achieve new transition goals. The German city is pioneering a path that builds on its history to implement strategies 

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Turku, Finland, which is an active member of ICLEI’s Green Circular Cities Coalition, was a leading player in sessions dedicated to circularity over the past two days at COP25. And rightfully so. After committing to becoming carbon neutral by 2040 at the Paris Summit in 2015, the city has since challenged itself with an even 

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9 December 2019, Madrid, Spain –– As part of the broad coalition convened under the Action towards Climate-friendly Transport (ACT) initiative launched at the UN Climate Action Summit in September, the Zero-Emission Freight Vehicle (ZEFV) ACTion Group has created a common vision together with key players working to scale up the global mass market for 

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At the 2019 UN Climate Summit in Madrid, the City of Turku (Finland) will present their circular economy best practices during ICLEI’s Circular Development track at COP25. The City, ICLEI and the Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra are also releasing today the policy brief “Towards carbon-neutral circular economies at the regional level”. The City of Turku 

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Local and regional governments are stepping up on climate action. Over 1000 municipalities have declared a climate emergency and local and regional leaders are taking their place on the international stage this week at the 25th Climate COP in Madrid. Local and regional governments are also tackling major emissions sources within their own jurisdictions. They 

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There’s an urgent need for cities to do a better job of protecting biodiversity, due to nature’s critical role both in combatting climate change and improving quality of life.  That was the overarching message at yesterday’s session on Integrating Biodiversity, Climate and Land Management at COP25. “We all know that the reduction of one-third of 

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Mayor Fernanda Hassem (centre) shares with the audience the many challenges the people of Brasiléia face due to climate change, as Mayor Surita of Boa Vista (left) and Mayor Chaves of Maranhão (right) look on. “The federal government is neglecting the Amazon Rainforest. They’re not committed to the forest. And they’re leaving people who live 

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COP25 is underway. The Local Governments and Municipal Authorities (LGMA) Constituency has come to the annual Convention of the Parties with 100+ mayors and other subnational leaders from 40+ countries and 70 cities, participating in 120+ sessions supported by 20+ partners. How did this non-party stakeholder group come into being? At the Earth Summit in 

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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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by Tu My Tran – Senior Officer, Sustainable Mobility  All trips begin or end with walking. In many cities around the world, congestion and pollution have reached a tipping point; space is limited and the use of private cars is no longer efficient. Despite this, most mobility-related investments still focus on new roads and highways 

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By Blake Robinson and Paul Currie, Senior Professional Officers in Urban Systems, ICLEI Africa Secretariat Harnessing the value and productivity of resources through integrated resource management activities and circular development is vital for more sustainable cities – but what does this mean in practice? Many African cities already show high levels of circular resource use, 

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It’s 2009. The world has failed to reach a meaningful international climate agreement at COP15 in Copenhagen. Despite increased climate action, cities and regions are increasingly feeling the effects of climate change. Mitigation alone is not enough – cities and regions around the world need to build resilience. Responding to this need, ICLEI launched the 

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Is it possible to reduce the use of resources in our urban food, energy and water systems, and at the same time stimulate local development and the economy? Nashik, India shows that a nexus approach - an intersectoral approach to sector specific problems - could be the answer.

The capital cities are Australia’s best-known cities, and they are the economic engines of the country, so they have an important role to play in tackling climate change and working with the national government, the Lord Mayor from Hobart related in a recent interview.

Seoul is home to about 10 million citizens and is one of the most densely populated cities in the world. The rapidly growing population has also been critical to the city’s success in becoming one of the world’s most sustainable cities. Host of the upcoming 2019 Seoul Mayors Forum on Climate Change, Seoul Metropolitan Government 

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Most of the messages reaching us about environmental degradation and climate change have a looming, threatening rhetoric. Rising greenhouse gas emissions are melting glaciers, the world is experiencing mass extinctions, and extreme meteorological events linked to climate change are hitting communities throughout the world.

Sometimes seeing something is the best way to learn. That’s what representatives from 23 cities in Bangladesh, Brazil, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Rwanda, South Africa and Europe had the opportunity to do on a recent European study trip on sustainable urban development and climate resilience.

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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This week in New York, heads of state and government have come together at the UN headquarters for two dedicated Summits on climate action and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As they gather at the highest political level to support and guide the sustainability agenda through the SDGs, political leaders are recognizing that real implementation 

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New report shows low-carbon measures in cities could reduce urban emissions by nearly 90 percent and support 87 million jobs annually by 2030 A new report from the Coalition for Urban Transitions finds that investment in low-carbon measures in cities would be worth almost US $24 trillion by 2050 – proof that thriving cities create 

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The city of Turku and ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability have launched a partnership to design a regional Resource Wisdom Roadmap with the support of the Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra. The rationale behind resource wisdom Resource wisdom is an operating model developed by Sitra to support cities and municipalities in making their activities carbon 

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Delivering ambitious, collaborative climate action is crucial to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. This September in New York, Heads of State and Government will come together at the UN headquarters for two dedicated Summits on climate action and the SDGs. These Summits will be the key events among a week full of activity – all 

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Freight transport is at the core of today’s global economy; in emerging regions such as Asia, the logistics industry accounts for 15 to 25 percent of GDP. However, urban freight also causes adverse impacts to cities, including traffic congestion, poor air quality, noise pollution and intensity of road accidents. Emissions from road freight transport alone 

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