ICLEI

Updated on Jan 20, 2024

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Website www.iclei.org Headquarters Bonn		Founded 1990

Industry Sustainable Development at the local level Number of employees approximately 200 (worldwide) Type of business International organization Profiles Twitter YouTube

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. Today, more than 1200 cities, towns, counties, and their associations in 84 countries comprise ICLEI's growing membership. 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.

Iclei at cop21 a summary

Membership

ICLEI includes 1,227 local government members worldwide in 70 countries, with more than 600 in the United States. ICLEI USA membership grew by 58% in 2008 and by 25% in 2009. U.S. local government members include cities, towns, and counties of all sizes, from New York City and Los Angeles County to Dubuque, Iowa and Arlington, Texas.

The only requirements for ICLEI membership are a self-defined commitment to climate protection and the payment of annual membership dues based on population size.

History and structure

ICLEI was founded in 1990, with its World Secretariat headquartered in Toronto, Canada. The U.S. office opened formally in 1995. ICLEI USA’s Executive Office is based in Washington, D.C. and the World Secretariat is in Bonn, Germany.

ICLEI was founded in 1990 as the “International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives.” But in 2003, ICLEI's local government members voted to revise the organization's mission, charter and name to better reflect the current challenges local governments face, and the broader topic of sustainability. The “International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives” became “ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability,” which remains its official name.

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.

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

ICLEI also provides oversight for the Compact of Mayors, a global coalition of city leaders founded to address climate change at the local level.

Governance

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 Seoul from 8 to 12 April 2015. Members elect 21 representatives to serve on the Executive Committee, which oversees the implementation of the Strategic Plan and ICLEI operations.

World Secretariat directors:

Park Won Soon - ICLEI President and Mayor, Seoul, Republic of Korea

Gino Van Begin - ICLEI Secretary General, Bonn, Germany

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.

Ecomobility

Ecomobility is a term used to describe travel through integrated, socially inclusive, and environmentally friendly transport options, including and integrating walking, cycling, public transport and other climate and people friendly innovative modes of transport. By enabling citizens and organizations to access goods, services, and information in a sustainable manner, ecomobility supports citizens’ quality of life, increases travel choices, and promotes social cohesion.

It is neither a new kind of transportation nor is it a collective word to indicate heterogeneous transport. Ecomobility indicates a new approach to mobility that highlights the importance of public and non-motorized transport and promotes an integrated use of all modes in a city. Environmentally sustainable and socially inclusive, ecological mobile transport choices have low to no emission compared to the personal automobiles powered by fossil fuels. It supports the use of light electric vehicles, provided that the source of the electricity is from renewable energy sources. Incorporating Ecomobility into the development of traffic systems and policies will benefit local governments in attaining international recognition for the city and its leadership.

ICLEI has a dedicated agenda to promote ecomobility in cities titled the EcoMobile City (Sustainable Urban Transport) Agenda. Under this agenda ICLEI executes the following 3 key projects:

EcoMobility Alliance
EcoMobility World Festival
EcoMobility World Congress

EcoMobility Alliance was created in October 2011 in Changwon, Korea. It is a transformation of the earlier Global Alliance for EcoMobility,which is a non-governmental organization founded and launched in Bali on 10 December 2007, on the occasion of the 2007 United Nations Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC-COP-13). ICLEI legally represents and hosts the Secretariat of the EcoMobility Alliance. The Secretariat office is located 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. The EcoMobility Alliance is chaired by a visionary city leader.

Ecomobility Alliance Chairs [as of December 2016]:

2012-2015 City of Changwon, Republic of Korea

2016-2017 City of Kaohsiung, Chinese Taipei

EcoMobility World Festival, is a month long experiment taken up by challenging and visionary city leaders to display an automobile free lifestyle in a neighborhood of a city. Citizens in this neighborhood will show the world that a normal life can be lead without depending on personal automobiles. Citizens will embrace the improved walking, cycling and public transport facilities and use light electric vehicles, to replace the otherwise motorized trips in the neighborhood.

EcoMobility World Festivals so far [as of December 2016]:

EcoMobility World Festival 2013, Suwon, Republic of Korea

EcoMobility World Festival 2015, Johannesburg, South Africa [First month long event in Africa to Decongest a central business district (CBD), Sandton]

EcoMobility World Festival 2017, Kaohsiung, Chinese Taipei

EcoMobility World Congress, provides with a fresh, visionary and enriching perspectives on sustainable urban mobility. The congresses aim to provide comprehensive international knowledge in the field of ecomobility. Renowned transportation experts, change makers, decision makers, city leaders and innovators, from around the globe will present some of the world’s best case studies, and participants will learn how to kick start and implement good policies while engaging in fruitful debates about mobility for the future of sustainable cities.

EcoMobility World Congresses so far [as of December 2016]

EcoMobility World Congress 2011, Changwon, Republic of Korea

EcoMobility World Congress 2013, Suwon, Republic of Korea

EcoMobility World Congress 2015, Johannesburg, South Africa

EcoMobility World Congress 2017, Kaohsiung, Chinese Taipei

In addition to the projects above, ICLEI's EcoMobile City (Sustainable Urban Transport) Agenda also works on the following areas:

Urban transport performance measurement in cities

EcoLogistics: is a dedicated initiative of the EcoMobile City (Sustainable Urban Transport) Agenda to support cities to shared experience on urban freight

Health and mobility: the agenda also works with cities to highlight the effects of automobile dependence on public health in the forms of sedentary lifestyles, poor air quality and childhood obesity

Road safety: Urban mobility is the primary reason for loss of life and permanent disability in many developing cities. Through its work in ecomobility, ICLEI support is cities to prioritise non-motorized transport and public transport and design better and safer cities.

For more information on EcoMobility visit: https://www.ecomobility.org

Criticism

Some organizations have criticized ICLEI's involvement and support of the U.N. Agenda 21 program. 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." 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.