Municipal Commissioner of Thane, India, Mr Nandkumar Jantre, a part of the South Asian Delegation, addressed delegates at United Nation Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC) at COP 14 on behalf of Local Governments and Municipal Authorities (LGMA).

The points highlighted were:
Request the adoption of a UNFCCC COP Decision in which the Parties of the UNFCCC:

• recognize the role of cities and local authorities in the implementation of National Climate Change Strategies and Action Plans, and here through to facilitate local climate action throughout the world;
• commit to provide enabling structures and effective framework conditions for climate cooperation with cities and local authorities;
• commit to empower cities and local authorities so that they have the abilities, the capacities and the resources required to take necessary action at the local level as a key support to the Parties in their efforts to meet the agreed targets and to implement local climate mitigation and adaptation strategies;
• commit to include local authority delegates in the national delegation to the COP and relevant decision making processes hereafter:
• encourage that the agenda of the UNFCCC include a reporting on the development and implementation of local policies; and

He forwarded to UNFCCC a draft on such a COP decision in Poznan.

For details please view  ICLEI e-News | Special Climate Edition, December 2008

Under the Roadmap of South Asian Cities and Local Governments for the post 2012 global climate agreement and actions project, funded by British High Commission, ICLEI - South Asia formed a Local Government Delegation comprising of local leaders from parts of the South Asia region viz. India, Bhutan, Nepal & Sri Lanka, to participate in the interactions at the Local Government Climate Sessions, Poznan, Poland from 9th -11th December 2008. ICLEI along with other international organisations such as, United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), Metropolis, the C40 Climate Leadership Group, and the World Mayors Council on Climate Change (WMCCC) organised the event.

The South Asian Delegation was exposed to the negotiation processes at the Conference of the Parties (COP14) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) during this visit.

ICLEI - South Asia team, led by Anuradha Das and supported by Rituraj Borah and Ravi Ranjan Guru, successfully coordinated the entire tour and participated in the interactions. … Details….  

Nanjing, China, November 6, 2008 – Mumbai, the financial capital of India, joins metropolises such as Johannesburg, Sao Paolo, Seoul and Los Angeles, as well as smaller communities, as the 1000th Member of ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, a global association of local governments committed to sustainability.

ICLEI Secretary General, Mr. Konrad Otto-Zimmermann and the South Asia Director Mr. Emani Kumar made the announcement in Nanjing (China) at the World Urban Forum organized by UN-HABITAT.  

"We are proud that Mumbai joins ICLEI,” declared Otto-Zimmermann. “Its population is one of the largest in the world—larger in fact than 150 of the smaller UN Member-States respectively. We are engaging more and more Asian megacities in the global work on climate protection and sustainability."

With the addition of Mumbai, ICLEI’s membership has doubled since 2007—a remarkable rate of growth. ICLEI now represents over 420 million people worldwide, with 100 of its members boasting populations of one million or more. A sizeable portion of that growth occurred under the leadership of USA office, which will welcome the 500th US Member this month.

Mumbai is the 15th Indian city to join ICLEI, along with metropolises like Delhi and Hyderabad. “Indian cities are in rapid development. They are looking for more efficient and sustainable ways to grow,” said Kumar.

Shubha Raul, the Mayor of Mumbai, is “extremely glad to know that ICLEI has announced Mumbai as its 1000th member.” In turn, Jairaj Phatak, the Municipal Commissioner, expressed that “the exchange of ideas on urban management between the valued cities of ICLEI and Mumbai will help improving city-to-city cooperation.”

The United Nations Human Settlement Programme (UN-HABITAT) praised ICLEI and its development, with Rafael Tuts, Chief of the Urban Environmental Planning Branch, stating: "Receiving Mumbai as its 1000th Member ICLEI clearly shows that the global sustainability agenda is gaining traction in Asia. We look forward for our collaboration with ICLEI and its effective network."

The Thane Municipal Corporation and ICLEI South Asia organised the “1st Stakeholder Consultation Meeting” for SPF-CCE/ICLEI SA project on climate change on 4^th October’2008 at Thane Municipal Corporation.

The program was inaugurated by Sri Nandkumar Jantre, Commissioner, Thane Municipal Corporation.  He appreciated the need for result based actions and stressed on making Thane city … Full text….