ICLEI announces future leadership

October 18, 2012

18 October 2012/Seoul, Korea: Today, ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability elected future leadership for the 2012-2015 term during its Global Executive Committee (GexCom) meeting held in Seoul, Korea.

Incumbent ICLEI President David Cadman was unanimously re-elected for a third term to continue implementing ICLEI’s ambitious agendas in a period of dynamic organizational development and a rapidly growing global partnership network. Cadman is a former Vancouver City Council Member and has been a social and environmental activist for over 30 years. Among his long list of achievements is co-chairing the Cool Vancouver Task Force, which brought into being a fully documented plan to reduce the city’s carbon dioxide emissions by 20 percent.

Also re-elected to the GexCom as First Vice President is Mexico City’s Minister of Environment, Martha Delgado Peralta. Delgado is a leading figure in the environmental movement in Mexico. Her leadership results from over 20 years of experience in various civil society organizations dedicated to sustainable development.

Mayor James Nxumalo of eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality (Durban), South Africa and Mary Jane Ortega, Secretary General of CityNet were elected as Vice Presidents. Nxumalo is globally recognized as a champion of local government efforts in climate adaptation. At the UNFCCC COP17 in Durban last year, he lead the signing of about 100 local government representatives to the Durban Adaptation Charter. Ortega was a multi-awarded Mayor in the Philippines, having served the city of San Fernando, Pampanga, La Union Philippines for three terms (1998-2007).

The three Vice Presidents will support President Cadman in representing ICLEI and its work globally.

The GexCom is ICLEI’s policy-making body. It currently consists of eight representatives from the different world regions as well as five appointed members each of whom holds a thematic portfolio. Completing the GexCom roster are Mayor Park Won-soon (Seoul, South Korea), Deputy Mayor Pekka Sauri (Helsinki, Finland), Mayor Troy Pickard (Joondalup, Australia), Deputy Mayor Alexandra van Huffelen (Rotterdam, Netherlands), Councilor Cathy Oke (Melbourne, Australia), Mayor Yeom, Tae-Young (Suwon, Republic of Korea), Mayor Eduardo Rivera Pérez (Puebla, Mexico) and Councilor Farhad Suri (South Delhi Municipal Corporation).

ICLEI also appointed a Management Committee consisting of the President, the three Vice Presidents, and Mayor Frank Cownie of the City of Des Moines, Iowa, USA. Cownie has a long history of civic leadership and community involvement with programs promoting the creation of a sustainable green community for future generations.