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An International Framework for Local Action: Cities for Climate ProtectionTM Campaign
PROFILE
The International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) is the international sustainable development agency for local governments. Its mission is to build and support a worldwide movement of local governments to achieve tangible improvements in global environmental and sustainable development conditions through cumulative local actions.
STRATEGY
Foster International Solidarity and Cooperation
CHALLENGE
To assist local governments to reduce the emissions causing global climate change by influencing local energy, transportation, waste and land use practices
GOAL
To build and support a worldwide movement of local governments who are engaged in climate protection, have integrated climate protection into both long-term and day-to-day policies and decision making, and whose actions achieve measurable reductions in local greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
ACTION
Engage local governments in an international campaign that enables them to integrate measurable climate change emission reductions into local practice, policies and actions that address immediate municipal concerns.
ABSTRACT
Global climate change is inextricably linked to the increasing demand for energy and automated transport, much of which flows from the growth in urban populations. Recognizing that local governments exert a strong and significant influence on urban policies and practices, ICLEI established the Cities for Climate Protection (CCP) Campaign. The CCP is performance oriented. A milestone framework that begins with a local greenhouse gas emission inventory and forecast, proceeds to the setting of targets and development of an action plan, and culminates in the implementation and verification of measures, guides participating local governments toward achieving their emission reduction goals. The operation of the CCP is decentralized through a number of national or regional offices that provide local governments with technical assistance, training, materials and resource brokering to help them implement various measures. Over 530 local governments participate in the campaign, collectively representing approximately 10% of the world's anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions.
CASE
Global warming and climate protection have been recognized as priority world issues since the formation of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) at the Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit (UNCED) in 1992. The negotiation of the Kyoto Protocol in 1997 marked the first attempt by the world's nations to develop a structured mechanism to require national-level emissions reductions based on country allocated emission quotas.
National and international governments have begun to appreciate that many of the solutions may have to be implemented at the local urban level where approximately half of the world's population now lives. Compared to rural people, urban dwellers earn more income, have a better potential for vehicle ownership, and demand more stationery and transport energy-energy that is currently generated largely by fossil fuel combustion.
"Air quality is a problem in Austin (Texas, United States). We found that merging the goals of improving air quality with climate protection not only makes sense, but reduces energy costs for the community."Because local governments have jurisdiction over the large populations living and working within their boundaries they are in an excellent position to influence the policies and practices that cause high energy consumption. Local governments own and operate large numbers of buildings, facilities, a transportation fleet and more, and thus are themselves large users of energy. Among the strategies local governments can employ are local land use planning that encourages public transit over auto infrastructure, land uses that bring into proximity housing, jobs and services, and building policies that promote energy efficiency. All can have profound impacts on energy and transportation demand and related pollution generation.Roger Duncan, Vice President of Austin Energy, City of Austin, Texas.
To effectively integrate climate protection into local government management, the community and its leaders must: (1) be aware of the problem, (2) understand the role of local policies and practices in contributing to the problem, (3) see the local co-benefits, and (4) have the tools and capacity to act. Without these in place, local political and financial structures make it difficult for local governments to tackle the issue of global climate change. This is due in part to the historical perception that local governments should confine their interest to immediate local concerns, and national or other legal contexts that place restrictions on the extent of local government authority.
Recognizing that local governments exert a strong and significant influence on urban policies and practices, ICLEI established the Cities for Climate Protection (CCP) Campaign.
Becoming a CCP Participant
To participate in the CCP Campaign, local governments must commit to undertake and complete five performance milestones.
- Milestone 1: Conduct an energy and emissions inventory and forecast. This inventory profiles energy use and GHG emissions for a base year and estimates growth in emissions for a target year (the target year is typically 2010 or 2015).
- Milestone 2: Establish a goal for emissions reduction. A goal or target, along with a timetable for achievement, fosters political will and creates a framework that guides planning and implementation of measures.
- Milestone 3: Develop and obtain approval for a local action plan. A local action plan documents the strategies and actions the municipality will implement to reduce GHG emissions and achieve the emissions goal.
- Milestone 4: Implement policies and measures. Implementation of individual measures to reduce GHG emissions may begin once the local action plan is developed and approved, or it may be concurrent with action plan development.
- Milestone 5: Monitor and verify results. Monitoring and verification of progress (i.e., quantifying the GHG emissions reductions achieved) is an ongoing step that begins once measures are underway.
Before a local municipality can become a CPP participant, its elected council, executive body or chief executive officer must adopt a local resolution to commit to undertake the five-milestone process. This key step demonstrates that, from the outset, the community leaders and constituents are aware and supportive of the process. High level support from officials and stakeholders gives credibility and momentum to the campaign.
Support for CCP Participants
An important responsibility of ICLEI is to provide support and technical assistance to the municipalities as they work through the milestones. For example, ICLEI holds training workshops around inventory methodology, measures selection and measures quantification. ICLEI draws on the campaign's global network of municipalities to provide case studies and local government guides. City-to-city exchange opportunities and assistance in securing project financing for measures are facilitated by ICLEI to help ensure that participating local governments achieve Campaign goals. All are opportunities typical municipalities would not have if operating without the support of the ICLEI network.
ICLEI commissioned a software product to help municipalities through the milestone process. The CCP software boils down the methodology on inventory and measures emission quantification into a simple, easy to use package suitable for the average municipal official. For Milestone 1, the software will generate the baseline inventory and forecast based upon entry of locally accessible energy use, transportation and waste generation data. For Milestones 2 and 3, the software will track reductions from specific measures so that the municipality can determine the impact of the action plan measures against the achievement of the reduction target. To facilitate optimal measure selection, the software tracks associated local co-benefits, such as energy and cost savings.
Regional Campaigns
Regional or national campaigns have been established in many areas of the world, including Australia, Canada, Europe (both region wide and specific national campaigns in Italy and the United Kingdom), India, Indonesia, Latin America (Argentina, Brazil and Chile), Mexico, Philippines, South Africa, and US.
| Region | Number of CCP Cities and Councils |
| North America | 212 |
| Australia/New Zealand | 144 |
| Europe | 134 |
| Asia | 25 |
| Africa | 10 |
| South America | 10 |
| Total | 530 |
The regional efforts allow the CCP campaign to be tailored to the needs of each region, while still providing a standardized international framework.
When the CCP Campaign was first introduced, it was targeted primarily at countries with high emissions per capita (international climate parlance refers to these as Annex 1). Since then, ICLEI has found interest from non-Annex 1 region cities throughout Asia, in Latin America and in South Africa. The CCP framework presents climate protection in a context that can integrate pressing concerns such as reducing air and water pollution, improving sanitation and basic infrastructure, and eliminating poverty. One strong message of the CCP is cities that plan and develop with energy efficiency in mind can significantly limit or reduce their per capita energy needs. Including technologies and infrastructure for clean energy, energy efficiency and low GHG emissions from the beginning is much cheaper than retrofitting these systems and technologies later.
By participating in the CCP Campaign, non-Annex 1 municipalities become better candidates for international funding or foreign aid. With ICLEI's assistance, the municipalities gain access to funding that may have otherwise been beyond their reach.
City officials from Buenos Aires, Berlin, Rio de Janeiro and Kyoto
join together at the 4th meeting of the Conference of Parties in Buenos Aires to urge national government action.
Each of these CCP cities has hosted meetings of the UN Conference of Parties to the Framework Convention on Climate Change.
(photo: ICLEI)
Twinning Programs
In December 2001, representatives of CCP municipalities attended a conference in Heidelberg, Germany, to discuss the needs for and benefits of municipal partnerships for climate protection. Conference attendees agreed that such partnerships would provide a strategic way for local governments to become more effective at protecting the climate. The resulting Heidelberg Declaration recommended that ICLEI adopt twinning as part of the CCP campaign, and that existing CCP participants be asked to commit to engaging in such partnerships as part of fulfilling their CCP commitment. While the final details have yet to be worked out, twinning will become an integral part of the CCP campaign in the near future.
The benefits of twinning between municipalities include knowledge exchange, program comparisons, professional development and, in some cases, even sharing of resources. The partnerships can occur between municipalities in the same region or development context or between Annex 1 and non-Annex 1 municipalities. The varying development context can facilitate a local level of foreign aid, allowing municipalities in the less wealthy region to tap into the capacity that may exist in cities from a wealthy region. While this initially may seem to be merely altruistic on the part of the municipalities from wealthy regions, it can yield benefits for both parties. It can lead to potential partnerships that could facilitate trade, economic development and even carbon trading. Such twinning may break down trade barriers to assist in the export of efficient technologies and provide other advantages.
Why the CCP Campaign Works
Even before the Kyoto Protocol and the UNFCCC, many local governments, recognizing global climate change as a problem with links to urban development, felt a responsibility to act. With ICLEI's help, local governments have been able to recognize that tackling climate change is good business. For example, if a municipality decides to reduce GHG emissions by implementing energy efficiency measures, the action can reduce energy costs (fiscal responsibility), improve local air quality (quality of life), and create jobs during retrofit projects (economic development). The development and implementation of new technologies can stimulate local economic activity. Producing power locally contributes to self-sufficiency and limits the municipality's exposure from future increases in the cost of energy.
When the CCP Campaign was first introduced, many local governments were able to "sell" the program to their decision makers on the strength of these co-benefits, rather than on the merits of slowing global warming. As awareness of the seriousness of climate change has increased and the program has matured, more municipalities are participating under the mantle of global stewardship and the desire to be part of an international effort.
RESULTS
ICLEI has shown that climate protection can be successfully integrated into the decision-making processes of local governments throughout the world. From 1997 until today, the campaign grew from 182 local governments to over 530 local governments, a group that represents approximately 10% of global anthropogenic GHG emissions.
This strong growth has helped establish a critical mass of program participants in some regions to the point where the local governments have taken leaderships roles that were previously the responsibility of ICLEI. Local councils are now sharing experiences and providing input into the future direction of the program, and they are becoming central to the debate about global warming. Among CCP participants in Australia, and in the State of Massachusetts in the US, the local governments have on their own initiative established smaller local networks to share resources and to enhance the collective sharing of lessons learned.
The collection of 500 plus CCP participants shows that most municipalities are successfully working through the milestones and implementing measures. A few examples include:
- Landfill Methane Utilization. Adelaide, Australia, is capturing landfill methane and using it to generate 15 gigawatt-hours of electricity, enough to power 5,000 homes and offsetting the fossil fuel previously used.
- Street Light Retrofit. Querétaro, Mexico, replaced 10,000 high wattage street lights with more efficient lamps, cutting carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by nearly 4,000 tonnes per year.
- Energy Efficiency for Homes. Philadelphia, USA, assisted 12,000 low-income households with basic energy efficiency retrofits (e.g., roof insulation, low-flow shower heads and compact fluorescent lights) reducing 13,500 tons of CO2 emissions.
- Green Homes Project. Puerto Princessa, Philippines, energy efficiency measures integrated into the design of a 1000-unit social housing project has saved 170 tonnes CO2 per year.
- Low Emission Transportation Fuels. Graz, Austria, is converting the entire city bus fleet and 60% of the taxi fleet to biodiesel operation. The biodiesel being used is a vegetable oil based fuel that in Graz's case includes used cooking oil collected from city restaurants. The biodiesel is renewable, less polluting and can be used in petroleum diesel engines without engine modification. Graz is also implementing environmentally based prices for parking, where polluting vehicles pay higher fees.
- Water and Sewerage Pumping Upgrade. Vadodara, India, replaced aging pumps at lift stations and treatment facilities to save 3,370,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity, Rs 15,000,000 in energy bills, and 4,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions each year-all based on investments with simple paybacks of four to six months. The new pumps also improved overall system performance and brought the biological oxygen demand (BOD) levels in the treated effluent into regulatory compliance.
- Renewable Power Purchase. Austin, USA, requires that 5% of the city's electricity be generated from renewables. To meet the goal, Austin Energy, the city's municipal utility, created the Green Choice program, a highly successful green pricing program which will help the utility meet over 50% of its projected load growth from 2000 to 2003 through megawatt savings from renewable energy sources. The program provides 340 million kilowatt-hours per year of renewable electricity from wind power, biogas and solar power generation, reducing approximately 255,000 tons CO2 per year.
- Municipal Building Retrofit. City of Sudbury, Canada, audited the energy use in 30 municipal facilities and is implementing measures that saved CDN$1.1 million in energy costs, reduced CO2 emissions by 28% and created 30 jobs locally in the first year.
LESSONS LEARNED
The CCP Campaign is intended to inspire local government action; therefore it was critical that the campaign be grounded in local government practice and methodologies. The local governments are the critical resource - without the support of elected officials, and action by the municipal management staff and operators, no progress can be made.
Global warming has become a highly political issue, particularly at the national level. However, the CCP strives to focus on the need to reduce GHG and to demonstrate the real life examples of local GHG reduction action.
Reporting is a critical component to the efficacy of a performance based program such as the CCP. Reporting by the local governments to the community improves understanding and knowledge of the issues. ICLEI's, and the individual local governments', reporting on program achievements to national government and wider regional and international forums increases the profile and credibility of the program.
KEY REPLICATION FACTORS
The CCP illustrates that global issues are likely to be adopted at the local level if co-benefits, such as improving fiscal responsibility, urban livability, quality of life and economic development can be stressed.
A performance-oriented program requires a structure with key indicators and measurable goals. The milestones that CCP local governments are expected to undertake provide a strategic framework within which the local government can act, along with a protocol that facilitates monitoring and reporting both within the local government and to ICLEI. Such a program is also dependent on action by the local governments. To help ensure that ICLEI's mission for the CCP is achieved, prior to being accepted the local governments that participate must sign or adopt an expression of commitment to undertake the milestones and accomplish program tasks.
While local governments can engage in climate protection activity on their own, the training, technical assistance, tools, publications and global municipal partners all represent opportunities typical municipalities would not have if operating without the support of the CCP or other network.
Budget and Staffing
The worldwide 2002 CCP budget is US$3 million. Approximately 35 ICLEI staff are dedicated to the CCP program internationally.
KEY CONTACTS
Nancy Skinner
International Director, ICLEI CCP Campaign
15 Shattuck Square, Suite 215
Berkeley, CA, 94704, USA
Tel: +1-510/540-8843
Fax: +1-510/540-4787
Email: iclei_usa@iclei.org
Website: www.iclei.org
REFERENCES
Betsill, M. 2001, "Mitigating Climate Change in US Cities: Opportunities and Obstacles," Local Environment, Vol. 6, No. 4 (393-406).
Cities for Climate Protection Australia (ICLEI). 2001. Beyond Milestone 5 - A Discussion Paper.
Cities for Climate Protection Australia (ICLEI). 2001. 2001 Program Report (published by the Australian Greenhouse Office and ICLEI).
Yienger, J., L. Brown and N. Skinner. 2002. Experiences of ICLEI's Cities for Climate Protection Campaign: A Focus on Asia.
ICLEI. 1998. Biennial Report (1996-1997).
ICLEI. 2000. Biennial Report (1998-1999).
ICLEI. 2002. CCP website [www.iclei.org/co2].
Skinner, N. 2000. "Energy Management in Practice: communities acting to protect the climate," UNEP Industry and Environment, Vol. 23, No. 1-2 (43-48).
US CCP Campaign (ICLEI). 2000. US Communities Acting to Protect the Climate.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Author and Researcher: Roxanne Eszes
Editors: Nancy Skinner, Jim Yienger
Case Studies of Local Government Success This case study is part of Local Strategies for Accelerating Sustainability: Case Studies of Local Government Success. This series of case studies highlights the diverse ways in which local governments and their partners have instituted strategies for action that are accelerating the transition to sustainable, equitable and secure communities. The series was prepared as part of the local government contribution to the UN World Summit on Sustainable Development (Johannesburg, South Africa, 2002). The case studies were researched, written and produced with financial support from the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment, The Netherlands. |
© May 2002, ICLEI-Canada. All Rights Reserved.
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Climate Alliance Since 1990, more than 1,000 local governments in Europe have committed to climate protection by joining the Climate Alliance. The Climate Alliance is an association of municipalities that have partnered with Amazonian indigenous rainforest people. Both groups have a role to play in reducing greenhouse gas emissions: European cities by reducing energy and fossil fuel use and indigenous people by protecting the rainforest that serves as a carbon dioxide sink. The Climate Alliance acts as a link between these local-level initiatives and the international policy processes on climate change, biodiversity and forestry. Their efforts are strengthening sustainable development and North-South equity. (Source: Climate Alliance. 2002. Website [ www.klimabuendnis.org].) |
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European Sustainable Cities & Towns Campaign The European Sustainable Cities & Towns Campaign started in 1994 in Aalborg, Denmark. The result of the meeting was the Aalborg Charter, which outlines a commitment to pursue sustainable development at the local level through Local Agenda 21 (LA21) and similar programs. The campaign is supported by an alliance of five organizations; the Council of European Municipalities and Regions, Eurocities, the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives, the World Federation of United Cities and the World Health Organization's Healthy Cities Project. These partners work to provide training, information and resources and promote sustainable development. The campaign is also promoted through a series of conferences and supported by the Directorate-General Environment of the European Commission. Presently more than 1,400 European municipalities have committed to sustainable development by signing the Aalborg Charter and joining the campaign. It is currently the largest regional campaign for local sustainable development and LA21 in the world.
(Source: European Sustainable Cities & Towns Campaign. 2002. |
