The project promotes multilevel governance policy dialogue, strengthen capacities and encourage the development of national, regional and local enabling frameworks to unlock local RE potential, also addressing energy efficiency. ICLEI will showcase how local projects and policies contribute to the achievement of national climate and energy targets in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and other policy objectives such as energy security and job creation, in alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals.

When New York City announced intentions to divest city pension funds from fossil fuel reserve owners by 2022, the move positioned NYC at the center of the global divestment movement. Providing the first in-depth look at the steps NYC took to reach a divestment commitment, ICLEI’ s case study shows how the the largest municipal pension system in the United States has begun to divest billions of dollars from fossil fuels — and demonstrates to peer cities, large and small, that the principles and processes behind fossil fuel divestment are transferable to nearly any location where the will to divest exists.

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 technical assistance, capacity development and curated knowledge products to local and regional governments to advance sustainable, and integrated, urban development. The GPSC RT serves local and regional governments by implementing a needs assessment and offering peer exchange, delivering training and promotional events and webinars and creating new and curated knowledge products. By situating city-level implementation projects in a broad sustainability framework, ICLEI, as a member of the GPSC RT, offers a holistic approach to urban development.

Cities are growing and changing so fast that many authorities are struggling to cope. ICLEI’s aim is to boost sustainable urban development, through city-to-city International Urban Cooperation (IUC) on and foster sub-national actions under the Global Covenant of Mayors initiative. ICLEI supports regional innovation strategies and inter-regional cooperation for local and regional development.

CITYFOOD accelerates local and regional government action on sustainable and resilient city-region food systems by combining networking with technical expertise through training and policy guidance and facilitating local and regional engagement in international discourse.

The network promotes food security, social inclusion, economic development and environmental resource management by combining networking with training, policy guidance and technical expertise on city-region food systems worldwide.

The Urban Transition Alliance connects industrial legacy cities from Europe, USA and China committed to accelerate ambitious and inclusive transitions, as well as showcasing their sustainability leadership. Alliance cities share their own transition experiences, knowledge and good practices based on social, economic and environmental challenges within their unique industrial legacy context. Through a tailored exchange platform hosted by ICLEI, the Alliance helps cities to identify and leverage expertise to co-create implementation strategies for sustainability-related projects.

During the current project phase, the ICLEI further encourages the Alliance member cities to include an equity-based approach in their transition projects, not only to achieve climate and environmental targets, but also to provide opportunities to vulnerable and disadvantaged groups. Alliance cities receive support on key equity-focused sustainability issues through two challenge cycles in 2020 and 2021 with 4-5 challenge topics selected per round. The outcomes of these challenge support cycles will shape a blueprint of lessons and good practices for cities worldwide on how social equity and climate action can reinforce each other.

The EcoMobility Alliance is a network of selected committed cities led by innovators and visionaries, supported by experts and businesses. The EcoMobility Alliance cities are a select group of ambitious cities that have achieved positive results in specific dimensions of sustainable mobility, and that strive to reduce their dependence on fossil fuel-based personal automobiles. The vision is that of vibrant cities, where communities and organizations can access goods, services, people and information in an ecomobilemanner. Through a service-oriented structure, collective learning exercises, peer-to-peer exchanges and joint activities, Alliance Cities help each other to reach self-set goals. An Alliance Secretariat along with a group of partners support Alliance Cities through their expertise, experience, and technology. ICLEI works with the Alliance to promote and advocate for ecomobility in cities, towns and rural settlements on the basis of its beneficial effects on health conditions, air cleanness, noise avoidance, and efficient use of public space, energy efficiency and citizens’ savings.

The aim of the project is to develop an innovative, collaborative and circular systemic approach for regeneration and adaptive reuse of historic city centers. This will be implemented by implementing a repertoire of successful heritage-led regeneration initiatives. The project tests the replicability of the spatial approach and of successful models addressing the specific needs of historic city centres. ROCK delivers new ways to access and experience Cultural Heritage, ensuring environmentally-sound solutions, city branding, bottom-up participation via living labs, while increasing liveability and safety in the involved areas. Sensors and tools support the concrete application of ROCK principles and the platform will enable new ways to collect and exchange data to facilitate networking and synergies.

Recognizing that cities play an important role in leading the way to achieve carbon neutrality in the second half of this century, namely the goals of the Paris Agreement, ICLEI supports cities and regions laying out their vision on a sustainable society in 2050. The declaration lays out a vision for cities leading up to 2050 and encourages cities around the world to join Kyoto in cultivating a culture of sustainable cities that is in balance with the local and global environment.

ICLEI develops procurement guidance including criteria and verfication schemes that consider social responsibility throughout the whole supply-chain of ICT products. Additionally, ICLEI is pilot testing procurement criteria with public authorities and consulting with manufacturers and suppliers of ICT through the Market Engagement series. ICLEI’s ‘Meet the Buyer’ event series brings buyers and suppliers of ICT together to discuss public procurement’s needs for fair labour conditions along ICT hardware supply chains and how suppliers can respond to this demand.

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.

Local and regional governments can have a tremendous impact on city-region food systems, yet many decision makers are unaware of the leverage subnational governents have over their food systems. ICLEI highlights the role local and regional governments can play in improving sustainable and resilient food systems to raise awareness among key stakeholders and partners. ICLEI develops knowledge materials to advance understanding of, and to advocate for, sustainable food systems while promoting local government’s actions on this field.

In order to improve visibility and enhance recognition of, and mobilize support for its action and network, ICLEI enhances dialogue, collaboration and engagement in the UN system, with a specific focus on those related to its fields of its expertise such as the secretariat of the other multilateral environmental agreements, the UN Environment Management Group, Local2030 and UN SDG Knowledge Development Center, as well as regional and global processes outside the UN such as G7/G20, OBOR, BRICS or other regional initiatives.

ICLEI provides the capacity of the second key expert and two non-key experts who conduct the following activities:
1) Provide latest information, methodologies, tools, knowledge and skills that support local governments’ projects and policies at all stages of planning and implementation.
2) Support knowledge sharing and exchange of best practices between the Korean and EU cities.
3) Support policy dialogue events and meetings specifically in relation to topics related to sustainable urban development
4) Compile case studies and related stakeholder profiles
The project activity includes establishment of a digital platform, in which EU and Korean nonstate actors can join, share and accelerate climate action. It is expected that exchanging best practices and matching needs through the joint platform will increase the replication of successes, avoid repetition of failures, and generally lead to more ambitious and impactful climate actions.

In order to ensure that the work of the UN fits the mission of the new sustainable development agenda and align with the spirit of enhanced collaboration with all levels of governments, ICLEI provides active contributions to the work of the UN Secretary General in the UN development system reform and 2019 UN Climate Summit, including development of customized strategies at the national level.