With COP28 — the 28th session of the United Nations’ annual “Conference of the Parties” climate conference, this year hosted by the United Arab Emirates in Dubai from November 30th to December 12th — fast approaching, we are preparing for what is becoming one of the most prominent local government-focused COPs in history.
ICLEI USA will be on the ground in Dubai with a delegation of 20+ mayors, governors, and local leaders to ensure local governments are driving progress on transparency, finance, and justice.
Learn more about:
- Mayors and Other Subnational Leaders from ICLEI USA Network
- ICLEI USA Agenda at COP28
- COP28 Announcements from ICLEI USA
Local Climate Action at COP28
How are cities and regions being seen as central to the event?
- For the first time, the COP Presidency has designated a “Multilevel Action, Urbanization, and Built Environment” Day (aka “Cities Day“) for December 6th.
- A Local Climate Action Summit has been announced for the first two days, hosted by Special Envoy Michael Bloomberg with the COP28 Presidency in coordination with ICLEI and partners.
- The ICLEI-managed LGMA Multilevel Acton Pavilion will continue as the “home for cities and regions at COP28,” hosting nearly 100 sessions.
- A second Climate & Urbanization Ministerial will bring nations and local governments together on December 6th.
Because ICLEI is the focal organization to the UN’s “local governments and municipal authorities” (LGMA) constituency group, our role in the COPs has always been to represent the voice of cities, towns, and counties. As we show in our COP28 position paper, collaboration across levels of government is the best chance to meet the Paris Agreement’s goals.
We know there are many reasons to be pessimistic, even fearful, of where climate change is taking us. But our cities and towns are writing a different story – one of empowerment and hope. Join our global advocacy-specific mailing list to keep up to date.
Mayors and Other Subnational Leaders from ICLEI USA Network
- Mayor Frank Cownie, City of Des Moines, Iowa, and ICLEI President
- Mayor Brad Cavanagh, City of Dubuque, Iowa
- Mayor Andrew J. Ginther, City of Columbus, Ohio
- Mayor Keith James, City of West Palm Beach, Florida
- Commissioner Brigid Shea, Travis County, Texas, ICLEI USA Board Chair
- Mayor Muriel Bowser, City of Washington, DC
- Mayor Jeni Arndt, City of Fort Collins, Colorado
- Mayor Ravi Bhalla, City of Hoboken, New Jersey, and ICLEI USA Board Member
- Mayor Mei, City of Fremont, California
- Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway, City of Madison, Wisconsin
- Commissioner Beam Furr, Broward County, Florida
- Mayor Lauren McLean, City of Boise, Idaho
- Mayor Aftab Pureval, City of Cincinnati, Ohio
- Sarah O’Keefe, Sustainability Director, City of Cleveland, Ohio
- Mayor Barbara Buffaloe, City of Columbia, Missouri
- Mayor Daniel Rickenmann, City of Columbia, South Carolina
- Mayor Andrew Ginther, City of Columbus, Ohio
- Executive Christopher Ronayne, Cuyahoga County, Ohio
- Mayor Melanie Piana, City of Ferndale, Michigan
- Mayor Nicola Armacost, Village of Hastings-on-Hudson, New York
- Mayor Mitch Reynolds, City of La Crosse, Wisconsin
- Council President Bryan Burgess, City of Oberlin, Ohio
- Linda Arbogast, Sustainability Coordinator, City of Oberlin, Ohio
- Pamela Braff, Sustainability Director, City of Olympia, Washington
ICLEI USA Staff
- Angie Fyfe, Executive Director, ICLEI USA
- Kale Roberts, Senior Program Officer, ICLEI USA
Agenda
1 December Friday
11:30 – 12:30: Building bridges within G7: lessons from the Urban7 cooperation for ambitious climate action in Japan, Europe and the USA
Location: Blue Zone, The Multilevel Action & Urbanization Pavilion
Host: Co-organized by ICLEI Europe, Japan, and USA Offices
ICLEI USA Role: Co-partner with ICLEI Japan Office and European Secretariat with ICLEI USA speaker Mayor Barbara Buffaloe, Columbia, Missouri
ICLEI USA Attendance: ICLEI USA delegation; Angie Fyfe, Executive Director, ICLEI USA; Kale Roberts, Senior Program Officer, ICLEI USA
13:45 – 14:00: Opening Plenary for the Multilevel Action & Urbanization Pavilion
Location: Blue Zone, The Multilevel Action & Urbanization Pavilion
Host:
- Co-convened by UN-Habitat and ICLEI in its role as the focal point of the Local Governments and Municipal Authorities (LGMA Constituency).
- Co-hosted by the Scottish Government and Bloomberg Philanthropies, in partnership with the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy (GCoM) and C40 Cities
ICLEI USA Role: Co-partner with Al Gore as keynote speaker
ICLEI USA Attendance: ICLEI USA delegation; Angie Fyfe, Executive Director, ICLEI USA; Kale Roberts, Senior Program Officer, ICLEI USA
2 December Saturday
14:30 – 15:45: U.S. Center Opening
Location: U.S. Center
Host: Co-organized with Climate Mayors, C40, US Conference of Mayors, ICLEI USA, MRCTI in collaboration with the Subnational Diplomacy Unit of the U.S. Department of State, with U.S. Climate Alliance and America Is All In.
ICLEI USA Role: Co-partner with the following ICLEI USA delegate speakers: Mayor Frank Cownie, Des Moines, IA; Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway, Madison, WI; Mayor Murial Bowser, Washington DC; Mayor Andrew Ginther, Columbus, OH
ICLEI USA Attendance: ICLEI USA delegation; Angie Fyfe, Executive Director, ICLEI USA; Kale Roberts, Senior Program Officer, ICLEI USA
3 December Sunday
10:00 – 11:00: U.S. Mayors Catalyzing Climate Solutions Through International Collaboration
Location: Blue Zone, The Multilevel Action & Urbanization Pavilion
Host: Co-organized with United States Conference of Mayors, Climate Mayors, C40, Mississippi Rivers Cities & Towns Initiative
ICLEI USA Role: Co-partner with the following ICLEI USA delegate speakers. Brigid Shea, Commissioner of Travis County, Texas, and ICLEI USA Board Chair; Mayor Ravi Bhalla, City of Hoboken NJ; Mayor Mitch Reynolds, City of La Crosse, WI; Mayor Lauren McLean, City of Boise, USA
ICLEI USA Attendance: ICLEI USA delegation; Angie Fyfe, Executive Director, ICLEI USA; Kale Roberts, Senior Program Officer, ICLEI USA
14:30 – 15:30: Greening America’s Cities: Opening Equitable Access to Nature for All
Location: America Is All In Pavillion
Host: Co-hosted with Bezos Earth Fund
ICLEI USA Role: Co-partner with Angie Fyfe moderating and Mayor Lauren McLean, City of Boise, USA, and Mayor Lily Mei, City of Fremont, CA speaking
ICLEI USA Attendance: ICLEI USA delegation; Angie Fyfe, Executive Director, ICLEI USA; Kale Roberts, Senior Program Officer, ICLEI USA
4 December Monday
9: 00 – 9:30: Report Launch: The #Stocktake4ClimateEmergency Outcomes as part of the LGMA Daily Briefing
Location: Blue Zone, The Multilevel Action & Urbanization Pavilion
Host: ICLEI World Secretariat
ICLEI USA Role: Featuring Mayor Ravi Bhalla, City of Hoboken, New Jersey, and a discussion with Kale Roberts, ICLEI USA Senior Program Officer
ICLEI USA Attendance: ICLEI USA delegation; Kale Roberts, Senior Program Officer, ICLEI USA
5 December Tuesday
10: 00 – 11:00: Climate Action in the Digital Age: Data-Driven Solutions for a Greener Future
Location: Blue Zone, The Multilevel Action & Urbanization Pavilion
Host: Co-organized with ICLEI European Secretariat and ICLEI USA
ICLEI USA Role: Co-partner with ICLEI ES and the following ICLEI USA delegate speakers: Mayor Barbra Buffaloe, ICLEI Europe Director Wolfgang Teubner, and moderated by Angie Fyfe, Director ICLEI USA
ICLEI USA Attendance: ICLEI USA delegation; Kale Roberts, Senior Program Officer, ICLEI USA
6 December Wednesday
9:30 – 12:00 Second Ministerial Meeting on Urbanization and Climate Change
Role: Co-convener
10:30 – 11:30: “Greening America’s Cities”
Location: Resilience Hub
Host: Co-organized with Bezos Earth Fund
ICLEI USA Role: Host, including speakers Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway, City of Madison, Wisconsin
ICLEI USA Attendance: ICLEI USA delegation; Angie Fyfe, Executive Director, ICLEI USA; Kale Roberts, Senior Program Officer, ICLEI USA
18:00: OECD Report launch
Location: Japan Pavilion
Host: OECD
ICLEI USA Role: Angie Fyfe, ICLEI USA Executive Director as moderator
8 December Friday
16.00-18.00: The Climate Catalysts: Youth and Local Leaders Spearheading Action in the Climate Emergency
Location: Action Arena 2 (Al Wakri)
Host: ICLEI
ICLEI USA Role: Kale Roberts, ICLEI USA Senior Program Officer as Moderator
COP28 Announcements from ICLEI USA
As we approach COP28, the 28th session of the United Nations’ annual “Conference of the Parties” climate conference, hosted by the United Arab Emirates in Dubai from November 30th to December 12th, we are excited to share our climate action impacts over the past year.
- Technical Support for 20+ EPA Climate Grants
- ClearPath Climate Planner Tool with Google EIE
- 1-Year Anniversary of ICLEI USA Action Fund
- The Cities Forward Program Kickoff
Technical Support for 20+ EPA Climate Grants
We are excited to offer technical assistance for over 20 EPA Climate Pollution Reduction Grants (CPRGs) and counting. These grants span a variety of projects from southeast Florida to northern Alaska, including collaborations with three tribal nations.
Our support aligns with ICLEI USA’s key strategic initiatives, such as the Race to Zero and The Ambition Gap: From Intent to Implementation in Local Climate Action. We bring expertise in developing greenhouse gas inventories and devising mitigation strategies for Michigan, Ohio, Florida, and Texas regions. Take a closer look at our projects on the map!
ClearPath Climate Planner Tool with Google EIE
ICLEI USA’s ClearPath Climate Planner Tool (ClearPath) is the leading online software platform for completing greenhouse gas inventories, forecasts, climate action plans, and monitoring at the community-wide or government-operations scales. Through the tool, communities can:
- Understand baseline emissions
- Evaluate future scenarios
- Identify effective high impact strategies
- Visualize reductions from different combinations of actions to meet goals
- Stay on track with emission goals
In our effort to assist communities in obtaining supplementary emissions data, we collaborated with Google Environmental Insights Explorer (EIE). Our staff offers assistance to member communities with access to Google EIE data, including an option in the ClearPath emissions tool to automatically import Google building electricity data. Together, we aim to support communities seeking to drastically reduce emissions by 2030 and reach carbon neutrality by 2050.
1-Year Anniversary of ICLEI USA Action Fund
Thanks to the grant support of Google.org, the ICLEI USA Action Fund has three awardees with projects currently underway. Totaling $3 million, the Action Fund projects will support inclusive environmental action through nonprofit partnerships in East Bay, California; Denver, Colorado; and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Read more here for updates on each of the projects, including highlights, challenges, and next steps.
The Cities Forward Program Kickoff
The U.S. Department of State, ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI), Resilient Cities Catalyst, and The Institute of the Americas, were thrilled to welcome the Cities Forward participants to the program kick-off in México City on September 26th-29th, 2023!
The 23 selected Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) and U.S. cities gathered to start the peer-to-peer exchange program, which aims to expand capacity building and diplomatic engagement by implementing projects in LAC communities that solve critical urban challenges around sustainability, inclusivity, and resiliency.
At our first in-person gathering of participating cities, we:
- Outlined Project Kickoff and Goals: 24 Latin America, the Caribbean, and the U.S. cities came together to dive into the project’s activities across three years.
- Identified Implementation Barriers: A unique opportunity for cities to learn and discuss potential barriers to implementation and finance gaps.
- Assessed vulnerabilities: Participants delved into assessing vulnerabilities and overcoming barriers.
- Discussed Project Themes: Themes set the stage for innovative projects that will shape the Cities Forward journey.
- Developed Connections: Strong relationships were formed, paving the way for collaboration and impactful change.
Read more about the inspiring program kickoff!
Sign Up for COP28 Updates
Since ICLEI is the focal organization to the UN’s “local governments and municipal authorities” (LGMA) constituency group, our role in the COPs has always been to represent the voice of cities, towns, and counties. Join our global advocacy-specific mailing list to keep up to date.