The R20 – Regions of Climate Action is a

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

environmental organization An environmental organization is an organization coming out of the conservation or environmental movements that seeks to protect, analyse or monitor the environment against misuse or degradation from human forces. In this sense the environment ...

founded in September 2011, by former governor of

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, film producer, businessman, retired professional bodybuilder and politician who served as the 38th governor of California between 2003 and 2011. ''Time'' ...

, with the support of 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 ...

. R20 is a coalition of sub-national governments, private companies, international organizations, NGOs, and academic & financial institutions. Its mission is to accelerate sub-national infrastructure investments in the

green economy A green economy is an economy that aims at reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities, and that aims for sustainable development without degrading the environment. It is closely related with ecological economics, but has a more politi ...

to meaningfully contribute to the

Sustainable Development Goals The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or Global Goals are a collection of 17 interlinked objectives designed to serve as a "shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future".United Nations (2017) R ...

(SDGs

The Non-governmental organization, NGO operates at the sub-national level as R20 believes sub-national governments constitute a powerful force for change and are best positioned to take action & implement green projects. R20's efforts are designed to support sub-national governments around the world to develop and finance low-carbon and climate resilient infrastructure projects in the field of renewable energy, energy efficient lighting and waste optimisation.

Mission and Methodology

Founded on the principle that tackling climate change requires “Less talk, more action”, R20 works with a strong sense of immediacy to ensure that sub-national governments’ ability to mitigate and adapt to climate change is unlocked. While sub-national governments (provinces, regions, cities, etc.) are at the center of R20's work, the NGO recognizes that fast-tracking the transition to inclusive, resilient and low-carbon societies requires greater mobilization and collaboration between a wide range of stakeholders. This is why R20's approach aims to “connect the dots” and foster understanding and interconnection between policy-makers, clean technology providers and public-private investors throughout the whole project development value chain.

An integrated approach to accelerate green infrastructure development and financing.

Through collaboration and with support from many partners, including the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, R20 has created a unique value chain approach that facilitates the identification, structuring, development (or bankability) and financing of

green infrastructure Green infrastructure or blue-green infrastructure refers to a network that provides the “ingredients” for solving urban and climatic challenges by building with nature.Hiltrud Pötz & Pierre Bleuze (2011). Urban green-blue grids for sustainab ...

projects. Sub-national governments from around the world can benefit from this unique one stop shop to improve the sustainability of their regions. #''Project Identification'': R20 works with sub-national governments and other networks of regions to identify potential green infrastructure projects and secure political support for their development. #''Project Structuring'': Together with Foundations and academic institutions, R20 conducts workshops and training programs to facilitate the structuring and design of projects identified. #''Project Bankability:'' R20 works with its corporate partners to help project developers perform feasibility studies and ensure bankability of projects. #''Project Financing:'' R20 works with Foundations and Impact Fund Managers to provide and attract investment capital to fund project implementation. #Project MRV: R20 works with MRV standards and implementer to Measure, Report and Verify projects contributions to GHG emission reduction and impact towards the SDGs.

Governance Board

Since June 2017, R20 consists of R20 – Regions of Climate Action (Association) and the R20 Foundation, which work as two complementary entities. The association carries out day-to-day operational duties, and the foundation manages important investment decisions.

R20 - Regions of Climate Action (Association)

The R20 Association is legally structured as a Swiss association. On behalf of the General Assembly of members, the governing board carries out all acts that further the purpose of the organization and is responsible for managing the organization's business. The founding chair of the association is

. The current president is Magnus Berntsson – president of the Regional Council of Västra Götaland and president of the AER (Assembly of European Regions) and The Strategic Advisor to the Founding Chair is

Terry Tamminen Terrance Arthur Tamminen (born March 7, 1952) is an author, lecturer, and strategist on energy and the environment. In 2003, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed him as Secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency. ...

, CEO of the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation and the former secretary of the

California Environmental Protection Agency The California Environmental Protection Agency, or CalEPA, is a state cabinet-level agency within the government of California. The mission of CalEPA is to restore, protect and enhance the environment, to ensure public health, environmental qu ...

. The R20 executive director is Dr. Christophe Nuttall, former director of the Hub for Innovative Partnerships at the

United Nations Development Programme The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)french: Programme des Nations unies pour le développement, PNUD is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human dev ...

(UNDP).

R20 Foundation

The R20 Foundation is the entity responsible for almost all aspects of funding of the R20 Association and its operations. It was created at the request of a number of investors interested to invest in the R20 ecosystem of blended finance. With a board of directors composed of green finance leaders, the R20 Foundation meets the demands of development banks, sovereign funds, private bans, private equities, family offices and pension funds. The current board is composed of Armand Jost, founder and CEO of SB3i (chairman), Dr. Patrick Scheurle, CEO of BlueOrchard Finance Ltd., Craig Cogut, chairman and president of

Pegasus Capital Advisors Pegasus ( grc-gre, Πήγασος, Pḗgasos; la, Pegasus, Pegasos) is one of the best known creatures in Greek mythology. He is a winged divine stallion usually depicted as pure white in color. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as hor ...

, Dr. Andreas Mattner, chairman of the executive committee, « Lebendige Stadt» Foundation,

, CEO of the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, Chrisophe Dossarps, CEO of the Sustainable Infrastructure Foundation and Dr.

Frannie Léautier Frannie Léautier is a Tanzanian civil engineer, academic, and international finance and development consultant. She leads and helps organizations in the private, public, and not-for-profit spheres thrive in advanced and emerging economies. Ea ...

, founder and managing partner of Ezembat Group. R20 is headquartered in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

, Switzerland and benefits from a unique concentration of international organizations, financial institutions, NGOs and academia that the NGO can work with to further its mission. To facilitate and bring together local authorities, technology providers and investors, R20 works with regional offices installed around the world: Austria (

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

), France (Paris), US (

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to ...

), Algeria (

Oran Oran ( ar, وَهران, Wahrān) is a major coastal city located in the north-west of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria after the capital Algiers, due to its population and commercial, industrial, and cultural ...

), and Brazil (

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

). As of November 2016, R20 has 49 direct members (both national & sub-national authorities) and 134 businesses and project facilitators (academic institutions, national agencies, NGOs, private companies, UN programs and Intergovernmental organizations), and 41 investors and financial institutions.

History

During his tenure as Governor of the State of California from 2003 to 2011, Arnold Schwarzenegger was responsible for signing into law groundbreaking legislation that translated the

Kyoto Protocol The Kyoto Protocol was an international treaty which extended the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that commits state parties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, based on the scientific consensus that (part ...

into Californian law. This and other initiatives is what led President Obama to ask Governor Schwarzenegger to obtain similar commitments from thirty other US States. A. Schwarzenegger's success in implementing action at the sub-national level, and his ability to demonstrate the potential to scale this impact by replication at the sub-national level is ultimately what gave birth to the R20 Regions of Climate Action. In December 2009, after evaluating the failure of the

COP15 The 2022 United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP15) of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) was planned to be held in April 2022 in Kunming, China, but was postponed, for a fourth time, to the third quarter of 2022 a ...

to agree on the practical means to limit carbon emissions, Gov. Schwarzenegger, with the support from the UN Secretary General

Ban Ki Moon Ban Ki-moon (; ; born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was his country's Minister ...

, decided to create a new coalition of Regions committed to action. He met with a number of heads of regions, including Governor Uduaghan from Delta State, Nigeria, President Charet from the

Province of Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirteen p ...

, Canada, President Huchon and Vice President

Michèle Sabban Michèle Sabban is a French politician born 28 June 1954 in El Kef in Tunisia, especially committed to equality between men and women. Political life *Member of the French Socialist Party since 1981 *Member of the National Council of the Soci ...

from Region Ile de France, and 17 other representatives from other Regions, who all decided to create R20 Regions of Climate Action. In September 2010, Governor Schwarzenegger organized the Third Global Governors Climate Summit in Sacramento and launched the R20 Charter, which was signed by representatives of Regions, national governments, NGOs, foundations, private companies and finance institutions. In September 2011, the First constitutive General Assembly of R20 marked the official creation of the NGO. Linda Adam, The

State Secretary, was officially elected president of the R20 Board and Terry Tamminen was nominated as R20 special advisor to Governor Schwarzenegger, the honorary founding chair of R20. In January 2012, Dr. Christophe Nuttall, director of the UNDP Hub for Innovative Partnership, officially joined R20 as executive director. From 2013 to 2017, Michèle Sabban took on the R20 presidency. In June 2017, Magnus Berntsson, president of the Regional Council of Västra Götaland and president of AER, was elected as the new R20 president. Since 2017, R20 organises the annual climate conference

Austrian World Summit The Austrian World Summit is a climate conference which takes places annually in Vienna since 2017. It aims at connecting stakeholders from politics, civil society and business to create a broad alliance for climate protection. It is organised by ...

in Vienna.

References

External links

Official website
International climate change organizations Organisations based in Geneva