The Charter of European Sustainable Cities and Towns Towards Sustainability otherwise known as the Aalborg Charter (1994) is an
urban environment sustainability
Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livi ...
initiative approved by the participants at the first European Conference on Sustainable Cities & Towns in
Aalborg, Denmark
Aalborg (, , ) is Denmark's fourth largest town (behind Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Odense) with a population of 119,862 (1 July 2022) in the town proper and an urban population of 143,598 (1 July 2022). As of 1 July 2022, the Municipality of Aal ...
. It is inspired by the
Rio Earth Summit
The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), also known as the Rio Conference or the Earth Summit (Portuguese: ECO92), was a major United Nations conference held in Rio de Janeiro from June 3 to June 14, 1992.
Earth Su ...
’s Local Agenda 21 plan, and was developed to contribute to the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
’s Environmental Action Programme, ‘Towards Sustainability’.
The Charter is based on the consensus of individuals, municipalities, NGOs, national and international organisations, and scientific bodies.
Approximately 2700 local authorities from more than 40 countries have signed the Charter. This has resulted in the largest European movement of its type.
There are three related parts to the Charter. Part 1 is a consensus declaration of European sustainable cities and towns towards sustainability. Part 2 relates to the creation of the European Sustainable Cities & Towns Campaign. Part 3 is declaration of intent that local governments will seek to engage in Local Agenda 21 processes.
The Aalborg Commitments
Ten years after the release of the Aalborg Charter, the 4th European Conference on Sustainable Cities & Towns was again held in Aalborg (2004).
The purpose of the event was to develop a common understanding of sustainability, and as a consequence to develop a framework to be used at the local level that would better articulate how to embed sustainability across municipality sectors. By consensus of participants, including organisations such as Association of Cities and Regions for Recycling (ACRR); Climate Alliance -Klima-Bündnis -Alianza del Climae.V; Council of European Municipalities & Regions (CEMR); Energie Cités; EUROCITIES; ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability; Medcities; Union of Baltic Cities (UBC), and the
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...
(WHO) - Healthy Cities, the Aalborg Commitments were agreed on and have so far been signed by more than 700 mayors from across Europe.
The Commitments are:
[ ]
# Governance
# Urban management
# Natural common goods
# Responsible consumption
# Planning and design
# Better mobility
# Local action for health
# Sustainable local economy
# Social equity and justice
# Local to global
References
{{Sustainability
1994 in international relations
Aalborg
Law of Denmark
1994 in Denmark