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More and more companies around the world have begun to recognise both the economic and environmental benefit of adhering to sustainability – and initiatives such as the ICLEI, or the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives, help to establish that ideal across the globe and propel society towards greater sustainability efforts.
What is the international Council for Local Environmental Initiatives, or the ICLEI, and how does it help to promote and maintain sustainability efforts amongst those who join around the world?
ICLEI, or the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives, is a group and non-governmental organization composed of over 1,200 local governments that demonstrate their interest in local authorities, the United Nations, and the development of international policy. The first ideas for the ICLEI were first proposed in 1989 in conjunction with the desire to develop better local government action to address various environmental problems. After the ideas for what would later become the ICLEI were approved by the CLEI the previous International Union of Local Authorities, or the IULA, and the UN Environment Program – a congress session was held in New York in the fall of 1990, with operations for ICLEI officially beginning in spring 1991.
Ultimately, the ICLEI serves as a movement seeking to create positive change across the world through the implementation of new programs, campaigns, and sustainability efforts. In a sense, the ICLEI serves as a real-life cheerleading team – except the encouragement and actions on behalf of the ICLEI are likely to prove effective in tangible matters by bringing about greater sustainability for those involved in the ICLEI.
The ICLEI seeks to achieve greater sustainable development by providing various resources to its members: such as information guides, networking opportunities,various tools, as well as training or consulting services to improve upon their transparency necessary for sustainability. The ICLEI has over 160 members from around the world, and with offices in over 2,500 cities and regions across the world – it makes the ICLEI the only worldwide network for sustainability currently operating on a global scale.
ICLEI works to encourage sustainable development by offering insights directly to the United Nations, the UN Framework Conventions on Climate Change, or conventions for biodiversity. As the ICLEI is partnered with the UN, various organizations, and even national governments – ICLEI is able to provide a dedicated and determined layout for organizations with more power for sustainable development: such as the UN and national governments.
As the ICLEI has garnered over 125 countries committed to sustainable urban development, the ICLEI is able to used the different inputs provided by different countries around the world to make sustainability suggestions to these organizations with power to make sustainable change: such as through the UN or national governments. The ICLEI also works to support sustainability initiatives by encouraging local communities and regions committed to the ICLEI to create new plans to reduce emissions in daily activities, to encourage working in conjunction with nature, and developing resilient behavior throughout the process of promoting sustainability efforts. In order to achieve this, members of the ICLEI work together by reviewing one another’s ideas for sustainability reform in addition to creating new partnerships for an overall effective plan to cultivate greater urban sustainability.
Think of the ICLEI as when someone is sitting in class and is about to review their classmate’s written paper to provide feedback. This is different than when the teacher is correcting the paper for accuracy, tone, or grammar – as the classmate has the same level of expertise as the person who wrote the paper they are reading to offer insight. The ICELI works in the same way, almost like a “team huddle” – as it provides an opportunity for regions around the world to share their ideas with other entities at the same level of jurisdiction.
The ICELI has several goals in mind whilst attempting to unify the global effort towards sustainable development. For instance, one of the main objectives of the ICLEI is to create a worldwide effort for local and national governments to improve upon their current sustainability efforts whilst keeping their potential environmental impact in mind. Another overarching goal of the ICLEI is to create a broad, diverse network for those committed towards sustainable development so that members of the ICLEI can have continuous feedback amongst their peers in the same position as them. By creating this viable network, the ICLEI can create more opportunities for sustainable development – the concept of “two heads is better than one” applies to the strategies used to accomplish the main objectives set forth by the ICLEI.
The network created by the ICELI also provides new opportunities for current members of the ICLEI to encourage regions of the world yet to join the ICELI and the importance and benefits of implementing sustainability across the globe. Therefore, the ICLEI not only provides members with the opportunity to bounce sustainable ideas off one another – but also entices other regions yet to join to become more interested in the benefits of seeking greater sustainable development.
The ICLEI also helps to facilitate greater action on behalf of the local communities and governments associated with the ICLEI – such as Florence’s local government, as Florence is a member of the ICLEI. This is because the ICLEI ultimately sends their sustainability ideas to greater organizations with a greater capacity to implement these sustainable development goals on a wider scale. Think of the ICLEI as a group of people putting notes into a suggestion box to be read by someone with the ability to instill that action. ICLEI can help local governments get the support they need to incorporate new urban sustainable development.
In fact, the ICLEI is immensely dedicated to sustainable development to the extent that the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives underwent a name change in 2003 to better encapsulate the main mission of the ICLEI. This is because the ICLEI, or International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives, was previously referred to as the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives. In order to better demonstrate their commitment to all global issues regarding sustainable development, the ICLEI changed their name to match their main mission.
There are a wide variety of benefits to be had for regions of the world that choose to join the ICLEI.
Some examples of cities that have joined the ICLEI include Florence in Italy, Paris in France, Budapest in Hungary, and Berlin in Germany. While the majority of members are located in Europe, members of ICLEI expand to the middle east as well – and ICELI offices span across North and South America, Africa, Asia, and Oceania.
One of the overarching benefits of joining the ICLEI is that it will create a sense of community, and not just for the various cities of an individual region joining the ICLEI – but a global network for those committed to sustainability to take solace in. Basically, the ICLEI will provide all regions from around the world the resources they need to implement sustainable development into their own local communities and governments while also being able to make suggestions that the ICELI can recommend to proactive organizations such as the United Nations or national governments themselves.
The ICLEI works to develop greater sustainability across the world – which is the ultimate benefit to be had by joining the ICLEI. Sustainable development is imperative in the midst of climate change as natural resources continue to grow more finite by the day, and while it is important for countries and companies alike to take steps to reduce emissions – sustainable development is equally as important in the fight against climate change. Ultimately, joining the ICLEI can help countries to have the resources they need to better adapt to the various challenges presented to them due to climate change.
The ICLEI, or the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives, has been around since 1990. As the ICLEI has been around for over 30 years, it has made some viable progress. For instance, the ICLEI hosts two award ceremonies in Europe each year to honor regions committed to the ICLEI who have shown utmost diligence in sharing and leading sustainability efforts with the rest of the initiative. ICLEI alone has also been recognised by the European Commision by receiving the European Green Capital Award – which commends the efforts of various local areas, their dedication towards environmental reform, and for improving the overall quality of life in these regions. This demonstrates that the ICLEI has been successful in cultivating a greater sense of community and urban sustainable development.
However, this isn’t to say that it’s been entirely smooth sailing for the ICELEI. The International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives has previously received criticism from the tea party movement, a group dedicated towards reducing excessive taxation, for trying to deny human rights in the midst of urban sustainable development. Ultimately, many view a membership with the ICLEI as a deterrent to greater economic development and prohibits cities and regions from maintaining a sense of individuality. However, the goal of ICLEI isn’t to turn all regions of the world into copy-cats of one another, but to provide-peer insight and amicable resources to better implement sustainable development on their region’s own terms.
The best part about the ICLEI is that it will continue to grow even more resourceful and beneficial as more regions of the world opt to join the ICLEI. Just like any other team, the more heads the better – and the fight against climate change and effort to achieve global sustainable development goals will be much more feasible if every part of the world recognised the value in joining the ICLEI.
If reading this article about water waste in the U.S. has made you interested in reducing your carbon emissions to further fight against climate change – Greenly can help you!
The International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives, or the ICLEI, is just one of the many organizations dedicated to the development of new sustainable development and potential environmental regulations. Check out our legislation tracker here to see which rules your company has to adhere to.
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