Jeb Brugmann, ICLEI Founder and first Secretary General, and Member of ICLEI Advisory Council.

'Cities and Biodiversity, a milestone for ICLEI'

"I congratulate ICLEI's team for an amazing success at the Conference of the Parties under the UN Convention on Biological Diversity session in Bonn recently.

I was so impressed by the report on cities and local authorities that came out of the session — by just the fact of its existence. This is a tremendous milestone in ICLEI, equivalent to the endorsement of Local Agenda 21 at the Rio UNCED and the establishment of ICLEI’s role in the COP under the UN Framework Concention on Climate Change.

I hope that everyone involved has had a chance to bask a bit in that big step forward and reflect on that fact that even 10 years ago any suggestion of a positive association between cities and biodiversity protection would have been seen as oxymoronic."

More information

Mayors Conference on Biodiversity

Conference of the Parties under the UN Convention on Biological Diversity

ICLEI project: Local Action for Biodiversity