ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability (or simply ICLEI) is an

international non-governmental organization An international non-governmental organization (INGO) is an organization which is independent of government involvement and extends the concept of a non-governmental organization (NGO) to an international scope. NGOs are independent of government ...

that promotes

sustainable development Sustainable development is an organizing principle for meeting human development goals while also sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services on which the economy and society depend. The des ...

. ICLEI provides technical consulting to local governments to meet sustainability objectives. Founded in 1990 and formerly known as the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives, the international association was established when more than 200 local governments from 43 countries convened at its inaugural conference, the World Congress of Local Governments for a Sustainable Future, at the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

in New York in September 1990. As of 2020, more than 1,750 cities, towns, counties, and their associations in 126 countries are a part of the ICLEI network. As of 2021, ICLEI has more than 20 offices around the world.

Membership

According to the organization's website, the ICLEI members "steer the direction of our work, shape our strategy and support the mission, mandate and principles set in our statutes. They are eligible to vote and take part in our network-wide governing bodies." In 2009, ICLEI included 1,227 local government members worldwide in 70 countries, with more than 600 in the United States. ICLEI USA membership grew by 58% in 2008 and by 25% in 2009. U.S. local government members include cities, towns, and counties of all sizes, from

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is the ...

Dubuque, Iowa Dubuque (, ) is the county seat of Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, located along the Mississippi River. At the time of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population of Dubuque was 59,667. The city lies at the junction of Iowa, Il ...

, and

Arlington, Texas Arlington is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Tarrant County. It forms part of the Mid-Cities region of the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan statistical area, and is a principal city of the metropolis and region. ...

. In 2020, ICLEI counts more that 1,750 local governments within its network. The only requirements for ICLEI membership are a self-defined commitment to climate protection and the payment of annual membership dues based on population size.

History and structure

ICLEI was founded in 1990, with its World Secretariat headquartered in Toronto, Canada. The U.S. office opened formally in 1995. ICLEI USA's Executive Office is based in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, and the World Secretariat is now in

Bonn, Germany The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

. ICLEI was founded in 1990 as the "International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives". In 2003, ICLEI's local government members voted to revise the organization's mission, charter and name to better reflect the current challenges local governments face, and the broader topic of sustainability. The "International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives" thus became "ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability", with a broader mandate to address sustainability issues, not only environmental issues. For its 30th anniversary, ICLEI adopted a new logo (released officially in February 2021) which emphasizes the organization's connections in terms of its members, offices and elements (represented by the logo's colors: water, air and climate (blue), nature (green) and cities (yellow)).

Programs

The organization promotes the following programs for local-level adoption and implementation as described on their website. * the Rio Conventions: ** The UN

Framework Convention on Climate Change The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) established an international environmental treaty to combat "dangerous human interference with the climate system", in part by stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations in th ...

, ** The UN

Convention on Biological Diversity The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), known informally as the Biodiversity Convention, is a multilateral treaty. The Convention has three main goals: the conservation of biological diversity (or biodiversity); the sustainable use of its ...

, ** The UN

Convention to Combat Desertification The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa (UNCCD) is a Convention to combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought through ...

Agenda 21 Agenda 21 is a non-binding action plan of the United Nations with regard to sustainable development. It is a product of the Earth Summit (UN Conference on Environment and Development) held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992. It is an action age ...

** the

Habitat Agenda The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) is the United Nations programme for human settlements and sustainable urban development. It was established in 1977 as an outcome of the first United Nations Conference on Human Settlem ...

** the

Millennium Development Goals The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were eight international development goals for the year 2015 that had been established following the Millennium Summit of the United Nations in 2000, following the adoption of the United Nations Millenniu ...

** the

Johannesburg Plan of Implementation Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

ICLEI also provides oversight for the

Compact of Mayors The Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy was established in 2016 by bringing formally together the Compact of Mayors and the European Union's Covenant of Mayors. It is a global coalition of city leaders addressing climate change by ple ...

, a global coalition of city leaders founded to

address climate change Climate change mitigation is action to limit climate change by reducing emissions of greenhouse gases or removing those gases from the atmosphere. The recent rise in global average temperature is mostly caused by emissions from fossil fuels b ...

at the local level, as well as acting as the focal point for the Local Governments and Municipal Authorities (LGMA) Constituency, which has represented networks of local and regional governments at the UNFCCC process since 1995.

Governance

ICLEI is a democratic organization led by the ICLEI Council and the Global Executive Committee (GexCom), two groups of local leaders elected by ICLEI Members every three years. The ICLEI Council is formed by the nine Regional Executive Committees (RexCom), elected by Members in each ICLEI region. One representative from each RexCom is then elected as a regional representative to the ICLEI Global Executive Committee (GexCom), along with portfolio holders who are elected to the GexCom by the members of the ICLEI Council based on their thematic expertise. The ICLEI GexCom and Council have the power to represent ICLEI on the global stage and steer the organization by setting ICLEI global strategy and policies. The Council convenes every three years at an ICLEI World Congress and establishes ICLEI's priorities and direction through the adoption of a six-year Strategic Plan. The most recent ICLEI World Congress was held in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

from 19 to 22 June 2018. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ICLEI World Congress will be held in two parts: the first one held virtually from 13 to 15 April 2021, while the second one will take place in Malmö, Sweden, in 2022. Members elect 21 representatives to serve on the Executive Committee, which oversees the implementation of the Strategic Plan and ICLEI operations. World Secretariat directors: * Ashok Sridharan – ICLEI President and Mayor,

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

, Germany * Gino Van Begin – ICLEI Secretary General,

, Germany

Ecomobility

Ecomobility means travelling through integrated, socially inclusive, and

environmentally friendly Environment friendly processes, or environmental-friendly processes (also referred to as eco-friendly, nature-friendly, and green), are sustainability and marketing terms referring to goods and services, laws, guidelines and policies that clai ...

transport options, including and integrating walking, cycling, public transport and other climate and people friendly innovative modes of transport. By enabling citizens and organizations to access goods, services, and information in a sustainable manner, ecomobility supports citizens' quality of life, increases travel choices, and promotes social cohesion. ICLEI's agenda promoting ecomobility in cities is titled the EcoMobile City (

sustainable transport Sustainable transport refers to ways of transportation that are sustainable in terms of their social and environmental impacts. Components for evaluating sustainability include the particular vehicles used for road, water or air transport; th ...

) Agenda. Under this agenda, ICLEI executes the following 3 key projects: # EcoMobility Alliance # EcoMobility World Festival # EcoMobility World Congress The EcoMobility Alliance was created in October 2011 in Changwon, Korea. It is a transformation of the earlier ''Global Alliance for EcoMobility'', which is a

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

founded and launched in

Bali Bali () is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and Nu ...

on 10 December 2007, on the occasion of the

2007 United Nations Climate Change Conference __NOTOC__ The 2007 United Nations Climate Change Conference took place at the Bali International Conference Centre, Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, between December 3 and December 15, 2007 (though originally planned to end on 14 December). Representat ...

(UNFCCC-COP-13). ICLEI legally represents and hosts the Secretariat of the Alliance.

Criticism

Tea Party movement The Tea Party movement was an American fiscally conservative political movement within the Republican Party that began in 2009. Members of the movement called for lower taxes and for a reduction of the national debt and federal budget defic ...

activists targeted ICLEI for its support for

, a nonbinding

initiative that seeks to promote resource and land conservation. The activists claimed that local government efforts to expand

public transportation Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...

and preserve open space were part of a UN

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agree ...

plot "to deny property rights and herd citizens toward cities". Dan Maes, the 2010

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

candidate for

Governor of Colorado The governor of Colorado is the head of government of the U.S. state of Colorado. The governor is the head of the executive branch of Colorado's state government and is charged with enforcing state laws. The governor has the power to either app ...

, criticized the city of

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

for its membership in ICLEI during his campaign.

ICLEI USA

The United States branch is a

501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 50 ...

nonprofit membership organization of the international organization of the same name.ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability USA

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Iclei International organisations based in Bonn International sustainability organizations Municipal international relations Organizations established in 1990 1990 establishments in New York (state)