Iclei—Local Governments for Sustainability
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ICLEI—LOCAL GOVERNMENTS FOR SUSTAINABILITY “Embarking on an environmental program sounds like a great idea. But if you’re a mayor trying to cut greenhouse gases, where do you begin? How do you even know how to measure your current levels? That’s where an organization called ICLEI — Local Governments for Sustainability can help.” — Newsweek, April 16, 2007 ICLEI — Local Governments for Sustainability USA Annual Report 2007 • www.iclei.org/us MESSAGE FROM ICLEI USA’S EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Dear Colleagues and Friends, These postcards capture the acceleration of an extraordinary year of local climate action, leadership and accomplishments. Among the achievements: doubling the number of U.S. local governments in ICLEI, new mayoral voices, innovation in technical tools, dynamic partnerships, deepening reductions by local governments in greenhouse gas emissions, advancing sustainability through planning and practice, and engaging more partners, members, leaders and stakeholders to lead climate protection and sustainability across the country. Here at ICLEI we believe that Local Action Moves the World. Fortifi ed by the scientifi c community, media attention and climate champions, US local governments are taking the challenge of reducing their climate impacts head on – and reaping the benefi ts. 2007 was a journey of triumph realized by hard work, persistence and willingness to take risks. The road for 2008 holds signifi cant opportunity to push the envelope to demonstrate that local action and leadership offers the great promise to effectively fi ght climate change and advance sustainability for our communities and generations to come. On behalf of ICLEI, I extend my thanks to the ICLEI USA Board of Directors, ICLEI local government members, funders and our many partners and allies. We are deeply grateful for the leadership you exhibit and the work you do on behalf of ICLEI, local action and protecting the Planet. Please use these postcards to let others know that you are joining ICLEI in this journey of leadership and action. Our journey is an open invitation to all, so please join us! Michelle Wyman Executive Director ICLEI — Local Governments for Sustainability USA ICLEI — Local Governments for Sustainability USA Annual Report 2007 • www.iclei.org/us NATIONAL CONVERSATION ON CLIMATE ACTION 2007 Inform and Inspire On October 4th, 2007, 70 communities across the country came together to discuss the science behind and the solutions to global warming. It was all part of the National Conversation on Climate Action, a series of events convened by local government leaders designed to grow support for and engage new allies in local climate action work. The National Conversation was organized by ICLEI — Local Governments for Sustainability in partnership with the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and the Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC). Communities from San Diego, California, to Crossville, Tennessee, and Chapel Hill, North Carolina, to Toledo, Ohio, and Des Moines, Iowa, to Belfast, Maine were engaged in the National Conversation. The National Conversation was inspired by the power to affect positive action to help solve global warming at the local level, and, in turn, it inspired new solutions and broader, more enthusiastic community action. Stay tuned for details about the 2008 National Conversation! For more information visit, www.climateconversation.org ICLEI — Local Governments for Sustainability USA Annual Report 2007 • www.iclei.org/us WEST COAST California • Hawaii • Nevada ICLEI’s West Coast work has been centered in California, where membership nearly tripled in 2007, growing from 38 members in 2006 to 91 members by the end of 2007. In California in 2007 ICLEI pioneered community inventory workshops with the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, facilitated 22 local governments in the Silicon Valley with community- wide GHG emissions inventories and CACP software training as well as engaged local governments in county-wide efforts in Alameda, Contra Costa and Marin counties. ICLEI West Coast Contact: [email protected] ICLEI — Local Governments for Sustainability USA Annual Report 2007 • www.iclei.org/us PARTNERSHIPS Building Bridges. Driving Progress. Solving global warming and creating sustainable communities is no small task, nor is it something that any single person, organization or government can do alone. We’re in this together, and we’ll solve it together. To that end, ICLEI would like to applaud the following organizations with which we forged or enhanced strategic partnerships in 2007: • British Consulates-General • National Wildlife Federation • California Climate Action Registry • Natural Resources Defense Council • CDM • New England Governors’ and Eastern • Center for American Progress Canadian Premiers’ Conference • Center for Neighborhood Technology • Presidential Climate Action Project • Clean Air-Cool Planet • Public Citizen • Clinton Climate Initiative • Sierra Club and Sierra Club’s Cool Cities • C40 Large Cities Climate • Sundance Preserve Leadership Group • The Climate Group • Earth Day Network • United Cities and Local Governments • International City/County Managers Association ( UCLG) • Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory • University of Texas at Arlington • Microsoft • US Conference of Mayors • National Association of Counties • US Environmental Protection Agency • National Association of Clean Air Agencies • US Green Building Council (NACAA) • World Mayors Council on Climate • National League of Cities Change • National Oceanic and Atmospheric • Yale School of Forestry and Administration (NOAA) Environmental Studies We each bring unique strengths to the task at hand, and ICLEI is grateful to all of these partners and looks forward to strengthening these relationships in 2008. ICLEI — Local Governments for Sustainability USA Annual Report 2007 • www.iclei.org/us ADVANCED SOFTWARE TOOL TO MEASURE AND ANALYZE GHG EMISSIONS ICLEI USA, in partnership with the Clinton Foundation and Microsoft, is developing an internet-based software tool for local governments to accurately calculate their greenhouse gas emissions, track progress and support global comparative analysis between local government users. The new software builds upon ICLEI’s earlier software including Clean Air Climate Protection (CACP) and its latest multinational Harmonized Emissions Analysis Tool (HEAT). By combining the Local Government Protocol and software efforts, ICLEI along with our partners will establish a global standard accounting framework and common software platform so cities can share data on emissions and measures designed to reduce emissions. The software will be released in 2008 to the ICLEI network and C40, a group of the world’s largest cities committed to tackling climate change. ICLEI — Local Governments for Sustainability USA Annual Report 2007 • www.iclei.org/us GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS ANALYSIS AND QUANTIFICATION SOFTWARE Ensuring Rigor and Accountability ICLEI members use the Clean Air Climate Protection (CACP) Software tool to support our Five Milestone Methodology. ICLEI provides the software, ongoing technical assistance and web-based software trainings to its members. CACP has been supported since its inception with funding from the US Environmental Protection Agency. In 2007, ICLEI launched monthly web-based trainings for beginning and advanced users to guide them, step by step, through the software process. These trainings are available to all members and to members of our partner organizations. To fi nd out more or to sign up for a software training, please visit www.iclei.org/usa. ICLEI — Local Governments for Sustainability USA Annual Report 2007 • www.iclei.org/us WESTERN STATES Arizona • Colorado • New Mexico • Utah • Wyoming The Western States have been served by a Regional Capacity Center (RCC) in Fort. Collins, Colorado, since 2005. In addition to supporting ICLEI members in the region, which grew by 70% in 2007, the Western States RCC was also the hub for ICLEI’s Climate Resilient Communities pilot program, of which Fort Collins was a member. Membership growth in the region will no doubt continue in 2008 with the addition of ICLEI’s fi rst mayor to staff – Mark Ruzzin, recent Mayor of Boulder, Colorado – as Director of ICLEI’s Western States Regional Capacity Center, now hosted by the City of Denver, Colorado in January. Thank you to the City of Fort. Collins, and now the City of Denver, for hosting ICLEI’s Western States Regional Capacity Center! ICLEI Western States Regional Capacity Center Wellington Webb Building 201 West Colfax Avenue, Dept 1009 Denver, CO 80202 Phone: 720.865.5356 Western States Regional Director: [email protected] ICLEI — Local Governments for Sustainability USA Annual Report 2007 • www.iclei.org/us World Mayors and Local Governments Climate Protection Agreement www.globalclimateagreement.org WORLD MAYORS AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS CLIMATE PROTECTION AGREEMENT If genuinely empowered and resourced, mayors and local governments around the world have the potential to lead emission reductions to ensure high global greenhouse gas emissions reductions targets are met. To that end, the World Mayors and Local Governments Climate Protection Agreement was launched at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali, Indonesia, in December 2007 by ICLEI — Local Governments for Sustainability, the World Mayors Council on Climate Change (WMCCC), United Cities and Local Government and the C40 Climate Leadership Group. Through the World Mayors