ICLEI holds up the flag for Local Governments at UNEP Governing Council

At the UNEP Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum (GC26/GMEF), that took place from 21-24 February 2011, in Nairobi, Kenya, ICLEI has been flying the flag for Local Governments. ICLEI was in attendance as a Local Authority Major Group Co-Facilitator, a representative of the interests of local governments.

ICLEI Deputy Secretary General, Gino van Begin, has delivered two statements on behalf of the Local Government Major Group.

• Message to the GC UNEP Roundtable 1, 22 February 2011
• Message to the GC UNEP Fifth Meeting - MC, 23 February 2011

The President's summary of the meeting, as a contribution of UNEP to the preparatory process towards Rio2012, includes numerous references regarding the engagement of and cooperation with civil society and key stakeholders.

The summary refers in particular to

• participants highlighting the historical evolution of international environmental governance and "consider[ing] the interaction between local, regional and international policies and structures and civil society" (paragraph 42).
• the current system of environmental governance needing urgent and real reform as opposed to cosmetic reform, and that "local and regional authorities are critical in implementation of agreed national commitments" (paragraph 62 in combination with 45).
• the outcomes of the UNFCCC climate talks in Cancun as a fundamental step in the consolidation of the long-term climate regime, and that multilateral negotiations and decisions require participation from all stakeholders (paragraph 69).

The President's summary is available for download from the UNEP website.

The discussions at the meeting have been focusing on the themes of Green Economy and International Environmental Governance and can be summarized as follows:

Green Economy: according to UNEP, 1.2 trillion USD are needed every year to green our economies, representing 2 % of overall GDP. Many national governments, whilst supporting the concept of Green Economy, still see a need to come to a consensus about a) the meaning of Green Economy, b) the needs of financial and technology transfers to developing countries to ensure a transition to green economy in such states and c) the related needs for domestic capacity building. It was underlined that no state should be left out of transitioning to a green economy.

International Environmental Governance: many states agree that International Environmental Governance (IEG) needs to be re-designed in order to respond more effectively to today's and future environmental and sustainability challenges. At the same time, many states also ask to see the benefits of any new IEG overhaul before it is carried out. It remains to be seen if there is enough courage on the part of  national governments to be bold enough to re-design IEG, even if not all architecture issues can be resolved before the Earth Summit in Rio in 2012. UNEP has a mandate to examine IEG and to make recommendations until Rio2012. 

The work of ICLEI and many of the world’s cities towards developing a Green Economy was directly acknowledged by UNEP Executive Director, Achim Steiner, in his policy statement at the council meeting: "ICLEI, the international alliance of local authorities and cities, is a contributor to the Green Economy
initiative which has also been developing a strategy in this field. Cities recognize the importance of economic vitality and of environmental health — but recognize too the importance of tackling social exclusion and social issues if urban areas are to flourish and prosper sustainably."

The continuing work of cities was also noted by Dr Joan Clos, Executive Director of UN-Habitat: "Already, governments and cities all over the world are seeking green pathways to economic growth".

The meeting, which was attended by many of the world’s environment ministers, is part of the road to Rio+20.