Multilevel climate governance: A hot topic for the next decade

The Talanoa Dialogue launched at COP23, the 23rd United Nations Climate Change Conference in 2017, is designed to take stock of and strengthen climate action globally. It also opens the door to a more inclusive and collaborative approach to climate governance by connecting nations and climate stakeholders. The Cities and Regions Talanoa Dialogues, facilitated by ICLEI – Local Governments 

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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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Cincinnati’s plan to reach 100: The transition of an industrial legacy city into a renewable energy hub

by Hannah Rothschild, City-Business Collaboration Officer, ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability with support from ICLEI USA To learn more about Cincinnati’s urban transition see www.urbantransitions.org _ Cincinnati’s roadmap to 100% renewable energy Following the Paris Agreement, a rising tidal wave of local action and cuts in carbon emissions has come from cities charging ahead 

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ICLEI’s take on what to expect in 2018: The year for a reality check

Last year ended with a sense that the momentum on sustainable development is durable. It was a hard blow when the U.S. backed out of the Paris Agreement, but the global and U.S. domestic response was swift and forceful. All in all, 2017 reaffirmed that nations, cities and towns, regions, civil society and the private 

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Why nature matters in our new urban world: Making the case for nature in cities

For over 10,000 years people have been irresistibly drawn to urban life, where they live, work and play in close proximity. Our early settlements often rose, quite literally, from mud to irrevocably transform society, necessitating the development of new codes of behavior and laws to reorganize ourselves in a world of close coexistence. We have 

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Lessons in sustainability from India’s past: Revisiting the ecological roots of sustainability

Sustainability, a word that carries such importance today, became a societal goal post 1987 after a report submitted by the Brundtland Commission The definition used in this report integrated three pillars of economic, social and ecological development under the banner of sustainable development. Since then, the discourse around sustainability has expanded to include many different 

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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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Building the architecture for inclusive and ambitious climate action

A focus on action at the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP22, the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Marrakech, Morocco, was the first Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change following the adoption and swift ratification of the Paris Agreement. It was a COP of action and 

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Local climate action: what it looks like and how to advance it through collaboration

Local and subnational governments have an important role to play in supporting implementation of the Paris Agreement, and are already taking action. Their contributions to mitigating greenhouse gas emissions are critical, particularly given that national climate commitments are not yet on track to achieve the Paris Agreement targets. In fact, recent analyses by the United 

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When cities and towns unite: the Seoul Communiqué for global climate action

The second day of the Seoul Mayors Forum on Climate Change got underway with focused discussions on critical tools cities need to achieve local climate goals. Mayoral Second Annual Summit: Global Lead City Network on Sustainable Procurement (GLCN) Given the huge spending power of cities worldwide, sustainable procurement represents one of the most direct and practical tools cities can use 

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