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Will the fight against climate change SURGe in 2023?
January 23, 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
January 17, 2023
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
December 7, 2022
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
November 29, 2022
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
November 18, 2022
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
November 18, 2022
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
November 18, 2022
“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
November 14, 2022
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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A Cities and Regions Guide to COP27
November 7, 2022
Everything your city or region needs to know about this year’s global climate event and driving multilevel climate action during and beyond the conference. Want to be a part of the action in Sharm El Sheikh? The Multilevel Action Pavilion is in-person and online! Register today, view the full agenda, and subscribe to the daily 

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Looking back, moving forward: Financial strategies Daring Cities showcased to help cities fight climate change
October 19, 2022
Looking back on Daring Cities 2022, the virtual forum jointly hosted by ICLEI and the City of Bonn, one of the key takeaways is that the organizers delivered on their promise to showcase innovative, impactful financial strategies. Strategies designed to free up much needed capital to help finance the tremendous task that lies ahead for 

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Resilience and adaptation at COP27: What we’re expecting (and hoping for)
October 13, 2022
This blog was written by Dr. Nazmul Huq, Head of Resilient Development, and Matteo Bizzotto, Global Communication Officer at ICLEI World Secretariat When the representatives from the nearly 200 governments and thousands of other actors will gather in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt next month for the UNFCCC COP27, the stakes will be quite high. Expectations 

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Cities responding to the climate emergency through innovative finance, people-centered approaches, and resilience initiatives
October 12, 2022
This blog was written by Matteo Bizzotto and Sajili Oberoi from the ICLEI Global Communications team. Daring Cities 2022 showed once again that cities and regions are the epicenter of the climate emergency response. With perspectives from every region of the world, we heard loud and clear the following: Now is the time to formalize 

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Talking transformation: Going from unemployed youth living in slum conditions to catalysts for change
October 12, 2022
“Two huge things need to happen” to have any hope of lifting the world’s most vulnerable out of poverty, while at the same time addressing climate change observed Julian Basking, the Principal Urban Advisor for Cities Alliance. “The first is mass investments in the huge networks of services that are required in cities. And (secondly) 

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Want to accelerate climate action where you live? The @BonnGlobal workshops will help show you how
September 29, 2022
Yet another reason to get excited about the ICLEI’s Daring Cities 2022, which takes place all next week, is the fact that Bonn is not only serving as host city for this virtual forum, but is also heading up two key workshops tied to accelerating on the ground action in the fight against climate change. 

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Show me (how to get) the money: Daring Cities 2022 spotlights how to procure much-needed funds for climate emergency work
September 21, 2022
Since its inception in 2020, the focus of Daring Cities has been to catalyze and accelerate local climate emergency action. And certainly with well over 2,000 jurisdictions from around the world having formally declared a climate emergency, there is no shortage of projects that cities are seeking to launch tied to the overarching goals of 

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How an online platform is providing 6000 cities with data and circular solutions
September 20, 2022
This blog was originally published on the ICLEI Circulars website and written by ICLEI’s Circular Development team and Circle Economy. After a year of development and piloting, the Circle Lab for Cities program is proud to announce the launch of Ganbatte – the first online platform providing key data insights and proven solutions on circular 

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Nairobi meetings acknowledge key role of subnational governments in tackling biodiversity loss
July 26, 2022
Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) advanced a global plan at the fourth Open Ended Working Group (OEWG-4) meeting in Nairobi, Kenya from 21-26 June to bend the curve on biodiversity loss. This Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) is expected to be adopted at the CBD COP 15 in Montreal, Canada – under 

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Strengthening urban food systems in times of crisis
July 18, 2022
An update interview with ICLEI Global CityFood Program Coordinator Peter Defranceschi Written by Selina Emmanuel and Jiwon Lee of the ICLEI World Secretariat Global Projects Team Since our last interview on the global food crisis and the role of cities, the global food landscape has changed further. The war in Ukraine has amplified many of 

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Sustainable food systems to have strong presence at COP27 in Egypt
July 11, 2022
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
July 11, 2022
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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Enhancing local climate action: Moving toward greater and greener resilience 
June 23, 2022
This blog post was written by Dewi Sari and Kanak Gokarn with contributions from the Resilient Development and Sustainable Energy teams of ICLEI World Secretariat. The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has brought renewed attention to the close connections between our natural environments, economies, and human well-being. While cities have been contending with the immediate health impacts 

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TUMI E-Bus Mission aims to electrify public transit across the Global South
June 21, 2022
Main photo: [Left to right] Rohan Modi, advisor for Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ); Tu My Tran, Head of Sustainable Mobility, ICLEI World Secretariat; and Philip Turner, Head of Sustainable Development at International Association of Public Transport (UITP), discuss the potential for expanding electric buses through the TUMI E-Bus Mission City Network at the 

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Learning to live with water scarcity
June 10, 2022
Ingrid Coetzee, Director of Biodiversity, Nature and Health for ICLEI Africa, recently shared her expertise with the international broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW). Coetzee also spoke at and led several discussions on nature-based solutions at the recent ICLEI World Congress 2021 – 2022 in Malmö, Sweden, including a panel on Planning healthy cities: Planetary and human 

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Yucatán capital Mérida becomes fourth city to join climate insurance program
May 31, 2022
Photo: Renán Barrera (left), Mayor of Mérida, Mexico, and Edgar Villaseñor Franco, ICLEI Director for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean (MECS), after signing the letter of intent to join the Urban Infrastructure Insurance Facility project. Mérida, Mexico, capital of the Yucatán Peninsula, became the fourth pilot city to express interest in joining the Urban 

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Putting people at the heart of integrated climate action
May 25, 2022
Panelists and organizers for “Nothing about us without us: How to engage young people in co-creating sustainability policies?” included (left to right) Olga Krajewska, ICLEI Europe; Fruzsina Vargha, Sfântu-Gheorghe, Romania; Chilando Chitangala, Lusaka, Zambia; Jose Nicolas Arenas, Envigado, Colombia; Vlora Makolli, Together in Association, Sweden; Anne Louise Meincke, Cities4Children Alliance, Denmark; and Coline Blache, ICLEI 

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What does the Malmö Commitment mean to Malmö? Ultimately, a good life for all in a more sustainable world
May 25, 2022
Photo: Malmö Mayor Katrin Stjernfeldt Jammeh signs the Malmö Commitment on Inclusive & Equitable Communities during the ICLEI World Congress held 11-13 May, 2022 in Malmö, Sweden.  In the wake of the ICLEI World Congress in Malmö which wrapped up on 13 May, a broad cross section of cities and regional governments spanning multiple continents 

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How an Alliance has provided a much needed boost in equity-focused knowledge sharing for industrial cities
May 25, 2022
Created four years ago as a platform for industrial cities to exchange knowledge and best practices towards a green and just transition, the Urban Transitions Alliance  is formally winding down. And yet, not unlike the proverbial booster rocket falling away after its job of launching a spacecraft into orbit is done, the Alliance has given 

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May 12, 2022
This blog was written by Rasmus Fredriksson, project manager, Environmental Department, City of Malmö Malmö is a coastal city with a 43-kilometer coastline. Proximity to the sea has always been a foundation for Malmö’s development. Historically the city has grown by building new industrial and port areas on land reclaimed from the Öresund, the Baltic 

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May 11, 2022
Marine Education Center (Marinpedagogiskt Center) is a newly completed building by the beach in Malmö. In the center, visitors from schools in the region of Skåne get the opportunity to experience the sea of Öresund, its exciting history and marine life. There they can also learn more about the Sustainability Development Goals of the Agenda 

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Urban farming – a growing trend in Malmö
May 2, 2022
Urban farmers are becoming more numerous in Malmö and they deliver fresh food with minimal climate impact to both restaurants and households. The City of Malmö, Sweden, encourages urban farming and gardening as a way to create social interaction, improve health, increase biodiversity and reduce the climate footprint. In Malmö there are different ways to 

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The resilient park that never will be finished
May 2, 2022
A big, new park in the Malmö area, Hyllie, focuses on stormwater, ecosystem services and social sustainability and is constantly evolving. The park is one of the City of Malmö’s many resilience projects, which was initiated in the green plan for Bo01, the world-famous European housing exposition in 2001. Hyllie – the Öresund regions most 

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How science will keep 1.5°C alive for your city
April 13, 2022
As national and regional governments grapple to “keep 1.5°C alive” with updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC), science-based climate targets offer local governments a clear path towards effective climate mitigation. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report (working Group I) published in 2021, human-induced global warming will see temperatures surpass 2 

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Bringing the Urban World to the peace and sustainability track: The power of G100,000+
April 6, 2022
“We cannot solve problems, by using the same kind of thinking we used when creating them” – Albert Einstein   Could you imagine the global impact, if the UN General Assembly resolution on 4 march 2022 on the war in Ukraine were to be approved by not just 140 nations, but 100,000 governments? Or fake 

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Enough is enough: Mayors and Councillors affected by Australian floods call for support
March 30, 2022
Over thirty mayors and councillors from some of Australia’s most flood-damaged regions have called on the government to do more to protect communities from tragic and costly extreme weather. Mayors and councillors from Lismore in New South Wales to Logan in Queensland, released a joint statement responding to one of the worst extreme weather disasters 

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