At the TEDxDaringCities: Daring To Go Climate Neutral session on 14 October, ICLEI announced its new Climate Neutrality Framework as a part of the GreenClimateCities program. The new framework calls for the necessary level of ambition and leadership from all cities, towns and regions around the world.
The Green Climate Cities program supports integrated climate action, focusing not only on mitigation, but also adaptation and resilience.
This new framework is built on three pillars of action to help all levels of government achieve climate neutrality: 1) drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, 2) divest, repurpose and reinvest, and 3) offset and compensate any remaining emissions that cannot be otherwise reduced, removed or avoided.
The first pillar calls on local and regional governments across the globe to reduce and sequester greenhouse gas and all other polluting emissions accounted for by source and sector. This call to action calls on governments to enable the transition to a zero emission future not only through municipal action but also at the community scale.
The second pillar goes beyond divesting in fossil fuels, calling on local and regional governments to re-invest funds in climate and sustainable energy action and the last calls for cities and regions to offset and compensate any remaining emissions according to UN recognized off-setting mechanisms and/or through donations to climate funds.Local and regional governments are encouraged to start with governmental operations but also to call on businesses, industry and citizens to support the transition to climate neutrality.
In line with the UNFCCC’s Race to Zero Campaign, the Green Climate Cities program requires local and regional governments to commit, plan, act and report.
Learn more about ICLEI’s new Climate Neutrality Framework here.
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