ICLEI

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ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability
Type International organization
Industry Sustainable Development at the local level
Founded 1990, New York City, U.S.A.
Headquarters Kaiser-Friedrich-Str. 7, 53113 Bonn, Germany
Employees approximately 200 (worldwide)
Website www.iclei.org

ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability, founded in 1990 as the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives, is an international association of local governments and national and regional local government organizations that have made a commitment to sustainable development. The 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 in New York in September 1990.[citation needed] Today, more than 1200 cities, towns, counties, and their associations in 84 countries comprise ICLEI's growing membership.[1] ICLEI works with these and hundreds of other local governments through international performance-based, results-oriented campaigns and programs. It provides technical consulting, training, and information services to build capacity, share knowledge, and support local government in the implementation of sustainable development at the local level. ICLEI's basic premise is that locally designed initiatives can provide an effective and cost-efficient way to achieve local, national, and global sustainability objectives.[citation needed]

Programs

The organization is now officially called 'ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability'. In 2003, ICLEI's Members voted to revise the organization's mission, charter and name to better reflect the current challenges local governments are facing. The International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives became 'ICLEI—Local Governments for Sustainability' with a broader mandate to address sustainability issues, not only environmental issues.[2]

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 UN Convention on Biological Diversity,
    • The UN Convention to Combat Desertification
  • Agenda 21
    • the Habitat Agenda
    • the Millennium Development Goals
    • the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation

Governance

David Cadman, president of ICLEI since 2007

ICLEI is a democratic organization with each local government Member holding a position on the Council. 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 Edmonton from 14 to 18 June 2009. Members elect 21 representatives to serve on the Executive Committee, which oversees the implementation of the Strategic Plan and ICLEI operations.[citation needed]

ICLEI - Capacity Center

The ICLEI Capacity Center, formerly the International Training Centre, is the training and conference service unit of ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability.Bonn is also home to ICLEI World Secretariat, Capacity Center and Climate Center, and the host of Resilient Cities 2011 and 2012.[3]

EcoMobility

ICLEI legally represents and hosts the Secretariat of the EcoMobility Alliance. The Secretariat office is in Bonn, Germany. The EcoMobility Alliance is an international non-profit partnership that works to promote EcoMobility and thus reduce citizens’ dependency on private motorized vehicles worldwide. EcoMobility Alliance is the follow-up of the Global Alliance for EcoMobility, founded by a group of leading global organizations on the occasion of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali in December 2007.[citation needed] The EcoMobility Alliance is chaired by the City of Changwon, South Korea.[4] EcoMobility Congress will be held in Suwon, South Korea in 2013.[5]

Criticism

Some Tea Party and Conservative activist organizations have criticized ICLEI's involvement and support of the U.N. Agenda 21 program.[6] Such criticism argues "the UN sustainability agenda eventually seeks to curtail people’s choices in terms of food, transportation, housing — even family size, as in Communist China."[7] Sustainable policies implemented at the municipal level, such as bike lanes, bike-riding incentives, bicycle sharing programs, and public transportation options, have been targets of such criticism. Notably, Dan Maes, the 2010 Colorado Republican Gubernatorial candidate, leveled a similar argument at Denver during his campaign.[8]

External links

References

  1. ↑ ICLEI.org
  2. ↑ FAQs of ICLEI
  3. ↑ Our Host cities
  4. ↑ Explanation on Ecomobility
  5. ↑ The EcoMobility Suwon 2013 Congress
  6. ↑ Kaufman, Leslie; Kate Zernike (February 2012). "Activists Fight Green Projects, Seeing U.N. Plot". The New York Times. Retrieved 2013-06-11. 
  7. ↑ "Agenda 21: How Will It Affect You?". American Opinion Publishing. 2012-09-24. 
  8. ↑ Osher, Christopher N. (2010-08-05). "Bike agenda spins cities toward U.N. control, Maes warns". The Denver Post. Retrieved 2013-06-11. 
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