Our Activities
Cities are complex systems. The components of urban systems, from food distribution networks and energy grids to transport and greenways, are interconnected and dynamic. Intervening to create change in any one of these components may impact others, creating systemic change. Designing solutions that take these interconnections into account is critical to sustainable development.
The five ICLEI pathways towards low emission, nature-based, equitable, resilient and circular development are designed to create systemic change. When these pathways guide local and regional development, urban systems becomes more sustainable. The pathways provide provide a framework for designing integrated solutions that balance the patterns of human life and the built and natural environments. They encourage holistic thinking. For instance, working together, the local and regional governments and global experts of ICLEI consider how nature-based development contributes to resilience, or how to bring equity into low emission development.
We design our work to integrate as many pathways as possible. Each individual pathway is multidimensional, incorporating numerous strategies for sustainable development. When more pathways are integrated into any given activity, such as a project, partnership or initiative, a greater degree of change can occur. Often, our activities are guided by a predominant pathway or set of pathways. In any given city or region, multiple activities may be implemented along each pathway.
This searchable digital collection of our activities worldwide includes technical resources, including digital platforms, methodologies and tools, as well as networks, projects, programs, partnerships, events and initiatives that guide action along the pathways, spark new partnerships and create city-to-city and city-to-region connections.
Each entry in this digital collection is marked with predominant pathways, keywords and related Sustainable Development Goals.
The Global Lead City Network on Sustainable Procurement is a group of cities committed to drive the transition to sustainable consumption and production by implementing sustainable and innovation procurement. Participating cities act as ambassadors of sustainable procurement to lead to a resource efficient, low carbon and socially responsible society. Their aim is to share and […]
Global Lead City Network on Sustainable Public Procurement
In order to increase effectiveness of the advocacy of local and regional governments at the global processes, ICLEI will improve internal strategic planning, networking, coordination and dissemination activities of the Global Task Force of Local and Regional Governments and its relations to UN member states and decision making bodies UN bodies.
Global Task Force of Local and Regional Governments
ICLEI USA GHG experts provided Google with a technical review of the city-level greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory data provided by the Google Environmental Insights Explorer (EIE). Staff provided a comparison to other data sources commonly used in local community-scale GHG inventories. This analysis will increase awareness and understanding for cities that wish to use EIE […]
ICLEI participated in the development of the current version of the GPC as part of a multi-institutional cooperation along with The World Bank; UN Habitat; WRI and C40 and promoted the use and application of this protocol through its programs and related projects. Currently ICLEI participates in the further iteration of the GPC along with […]
Local governments are key actors when it comes to tackling climate change. Reducing GHG emissions at the local level should be managed and monitored using well-structured mechanisms. In South Korea, the Korea Environment Corporation (KeCO) supports Korean Local governments to calculate their GHG inventories. It has developed a tool based on the IPCC 2016 Guidelines, […]
GPC Accreditation Process of GHG Inventory tool for Local Governments in Korea
ICLEI operates the Helpdesk on behalf of the European Commission, with the goal of providing an easy entry point to GPP for all European public authorities to increase the uptake and professionalization of GPP. Part of the GPP Helpdesk service are the publication of monthly newsletters, answering Helpdesk queries, semi-annual educational webinars on a content […]
Funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF),The Global Platform for Sustainable Cities (GPSC) is a partnership and knowledge platform that promotes integrated solutions and cutting-edge support for cities seeking to improve their urban sustainability. ICLEI, together with WRI and C40, serve on the GPSC Resource Team. The Resource Team facilitates peer exchange and provides high-level […]
GPSC (Global Platform for Sustainable Cities)
ICLEI facilitated and trained two groups of municipalities and stakeholders: Training-the-Trainers and Collaborative Implementation Groups. The former worked with 18 communities across the Great Lakes watershed to better understand their local climate impacts and risks. The project helped municipalities convene local workshops to learn how to use climate change modelling data and identify local vulnerabilities, […]
Great Lakes Community Climate Change Project
Climate Action and Adaptation Plan Training: ICLEI provided in-person training for Los Angeles City staff on Climate Action Planning. The training focused on the following topics: •Climate equity and community driven processes; •5 Milestone Process: Data Driven Planning; •Inventory: what sectors are usually measured, what it can tell you, determining trends; emissions forecasting and emissions […]
ICLEI strongly has been involved in the tasks related to integration and translation to practice of lessons learnt, particularly with regards to the local government community. ICLEI further supported project partners to identify the practical and operational policy needs of the key target end users from the macro (global), meso (EU and national), and micro […]
ICLEI's first role is in the innovation management task to ensure that the project is aligned with the development of the state of the art technologies and the market possibilities. In this task, alongside with the Innovation Manager, we monitor internal and external activities, market developments and European policy with respect to t e-mobility, that […]
ICLEI can help raise ambition and connect cities, towns, and regions who are seeking to solve the problems of climate change. The GreenClimateCities (GCC) Program offers cities a proven process methodology for walking step-by-step toward climate neutrality.The GCC program supports local communities on the front lines addressing the challenges and opportunities of urban growth, exploring […]
GreenClimateCities Program
Through the project, ICLEI will support 20 cities, with emission inventories, targets and guidelines for mitigation. It includes preparation of an inventory of GHG emissions and atmospheric pollutants; future emission scenarios for 5, 10, 20 and 40 years, with reduction targets; institutional implementation strategies and inventory review mechanisms; and training of RMC technicians in the […]
Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory for Campinas and the Metropolitan Region of Campinas
ICLEI is the lead author, supported by groups of city and carbon accounting experts from various fields, in the development of industry standards for local government GHG emissions accounting in the US. The development of the U.S. Community Protocol, the Local Government Operations Protocol, and the Recycling and Composting Protocol positioned ICLEI as exclusive experts […]
Greenhouse Gas Emissions Protocols
One of the main scientific problems for understanding southern Africa’s climate is that different models give contradictory scenarios for climate trends over the next 5–40 years. Through a transdisciplinary learning approach and scientific research, ICLEI contributes to an improved understanding of climate processes, and regional and local climate trends that drive the southern African climate […]
Greenhouse Gas Inventory, Climate Action Plan, Vulnerability Assessment