CitiesGoGreen -September 2008 - (Page 25) systematically reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote local sustainability. The growing network of members and the evolving ways to share what works are creating an increasingly effective whole with a shared focus on GHG reduction and consequent sustainability. ICLEI’s approach is based on the fundamental concept that accurately and consistently measuring emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants is essential for effective action on a large scale. With this core focus, ICLEI helps its local government members establish a baseline for comparison, set specific goals, plan effective actions and track achieved results. Consistency of measurement allows results to be combined and compared to gauge overall progress, and to identify what works best and in which circumstances. As the network of cooperating members grows, the quantity and quality of field experience which members can draw upon, and of baseline data embedded in software tools, likewise grow. The collective experience thus available allows each member to be increasingly effective and efficient. This is part of the power of the conception behind ICLEI, and why it is so helpful for local governments to do their climate change work as part of this developing body of expertise and mutual support rather than with idiosyncratic processes. The one thing I would change about ICLEI is to add more members. With several new applications weekly the organization is growing faster than ever before, but we have here the potential to create a positive climate change tipping point. Just as adding enough CO2 to our climate can destroy it, adding enough local governments to ICLEI can do the reverse. Joining ICLEI is inexpensive, getting started is easy, and the payoff is enormous, locally and globally. In the following pages we’ll look at some (not all) of ICLEI-USA’s activities and offerings, starting with an interview with Executive Director Michelle Wyman. Special Report Interview with Michelle Wyman, Executive Director of ICLEI-USA We spoke with Michelle at the ICLEI-USA Local Action Summit in Albuquerque, New Mexico. What is the intent of ICLEI? The intent of ICLEI is to work with local governments across the United States and across the planet to provide the technical tools, and technical expertise to support those tools, in order for cities and counties to capture reductions in the greenhouse gas emissions that are causing global warming and in the long-term, to advance sustainability at the local level. How concretely do you do that? ICLEI does that more concretely than any other organization on the globe right now. We provide technical tools, including a robust software tool that helps quantify, measure and track the reductions in greenhouse gas emissions that local governments are able to manage and have jurisdiction over. Also through a series of different methodologies and toolkits which are media specific and sector specific within a given community, for example toolkits on managing transportation and toolkits on the built environment. All of these toolkits are underscored by the tenets of sustainability and also with a priority of focusing on how to capture reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. September 2008 What do you mean by media specific? By that I mean environmental media— water, air quality, soil, the built environment. CAPPA is also available online, I understand, for anyone who wants to use it. Correct. It’s a free tool for local governments. We as an organization, as a non- What’s new from ICLEI? I You know, the private investment community know you have a lot of new is hungry to provide low-interest loans to local projects underway and being released. governments. We have a lot going on. We’ve launched a new decision-supprofit 501(c)3, consider ourselves part port tool. It very specifically helps local of the public domain. So for the most elected leaders go through their legispart, to the extent that we possibly can, lative process during budget time for we try to provide all of our tools beyond example, when they’re looking to justify our membership to local governments capital investments for various climate and sustainability actions. It’s a weighted throughout the country. matrix where they can put in certain You have something else you’re talkcriteria. They can see, “Here’s the investing about today. ment requirement, here is the potential In partnership with the Clinton Climate outcome, here is the long term benefit, Initiative and Microsoft we’ve developed and here is the rate of return in energy the next-generation software tool, which savings.” It’s a whole suite of different essentially builds off of the greenhouse indicators that help you understand as gas emissions analysis and quantification a local decision-maker, “Here is what we software tool which has been the spine, will get if we do this, here is what we will the primary core, of all of our climate not get if we don’t do this.” work and all the climate work that local governments have done through ICLEI Including financial benefits? for more than 15 years. Michelle: Correct. It’s called the Climate This is the next-generation to that, and Air Pollution Planning Assistant, so it’s a web-based platform that has CAPPA. We’re known for our acronyms. a much deeper, richer ability both for They’re generally not super great but tracking measurement and analysis. they’re very catchy [laughter]. .com 25 http://www.iclei.org/index.php?id=7756 http://CitiesGoGreen.com
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.