Tag: ICLEI

Note: this article was originally published on EcoWatch.

By Mark Watts, Executive Director, C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group
& Gino Van Begin, Secretary General, ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability

When UN Secretary-General Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change Michael R. Bloomberg suggested creating a Compact of Mayors to mirror the UN programme for national commitments on climate change, it was not possible to guess how central the idea would become to putting mayors at the heart of global climate action. But it turned out to be a game changer.

Today at COP20 in Lima, C40 and partners World Resources Institute (WRI) and ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI) released the first widely endorsed standard for cities to measure and report their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, called the Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories (GPC).

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and UN Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change Michael R. Bloomberg today announced the launch of a global Compact of Mayors, the world’s largest effort for cities to fight climate change. The Compact will enable cities to publically commit to deep GHG emissions reductions, make existing targets and plans public, and report on their progress annually, using a newly-standardized measurement system that is compatible with international practices. Through this effort, cities will be choosing to meet the same requirements proposed for the international climate negotiations that will lead to a global climate treaty in 2015.

Today C40 and partners, the World Resources Institute (WRI) and ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, have released a second edition of the Global Protocol for Community-scale Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GPC) for a period of public comment until August 18th. The partners particularly welcome review by city officials, practitioners as well as technical experts in the fields of GHG measurement, energy, transportation, waste management, agriculture and forestry.

In this post, Hastings Chikoko draws on lessons from Brazil and C40 research efforts to discuss the importance of clear frameworks for coordination between African national and local governments on reducing emissions and climate risks.