The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability at the Cities & Regions Pavilion on the sidelines of the Paris Climate Change Conference.
The MoU is expected to serve as an umbrella for a range of initiatives between UNEP and ICLEI, addressing areas such as sustainable consumption and production (SCP), air pollution, biodiversity, energy and transport.
8 December 2015: The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability at the Cities & Regions Pavilion on the sidelines of the Paris Climate Change Conference. The MoU is expected to serve as an umbrella for a range of initiatives between UNEP and ICLEI, addressing areas such as sustainable consumption and production (SCP), air pollution, biodiversity, energy and transport.
“The future of what happens in our societies will be largely determined by what happens in the cities of our world,” UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner reflected at the signing ceremony. He described ICLEI as being “on the frontlines of implementation” of local climate action and expressed hope that the MoU would “help inform decisions that sometimes happen much more quickly at the local level than at the national level.” He also stressed the importance of including the viability of cities in discussions on sustainability.
ICLEI Secretary General, Gino Van Begin, welcomed the MoU as an important mechanism “to support cities and local governments, especially in developing countries and to enable resource-efficient development.”
James Nxumalo, Mayor of Durban, South Africa, and First Vice President, ICLEI, signed the MoU on behalf of ICLEI. [UNEP Press Release] [ICLEI Press Release] [ICLEI Website] [IISD RS Coverage of Paris Climate Change Conference]