Since 2010, Seoul has hosted annual international forums on air quality and biennial mayoral forums on climate change to foster discussions on urban air quality improvement and climate actions. Based on the past years’ experience and recognizing the interconnectedness of air pollution and climate issues, Seoul has merged these forums into a single event called the “Seoul International Forum on Climate and Environment” to streamline efforts towards sustainable development and achieving carbon neutrality. As an official partner, ICLEI East Asia leverages it global network to support the organization of the Forum and supports Seoul Metropolitan Government to spotlight innovative solutions and fosters a collaborative environment for stakeholders to drive meaningful change in urban sustainability.

Over the past two decades, ICLEI, has worked closely with the United Nations Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and a range of partners to elevate the voice of local and subnational governments and ensure that strong action is taken to create vibrant cities and regions, where people and biodiversity can thrive, including organizing “Global Biodiversity Summits of Cities & Subnational Governments”. At the CBD COP, local governments play a critical role in shaping global biodiversity agendas, ensuring that the voices of cities and regions are heard in international discussions. This involvement is crucial for aligning local conservation efforts with global targets and policies, highlighting the importance of integrated approaches across different governance levels for effective biodiversity conservation.

Since the 1992 Earth Summit, the Local Governments and Municipal Authorities (LGMA) Constituency has been the voice for networks of local and regional governments under the UNFCCC, representing them since the first Conference of Parties (COP) in 1995. The LGMA serves as the primary channel for these groups, coordinating their inputs and influencing global climate negotiations, and ICLEI has been serving as the LGMA’s focal point. Each year, LGMA supports the COP Presidencies and advance initiatives such as the transition from “Friends of Cities” to the broader “UNFCCC Friends of Multilevel Action” to ensure that local perspectives shape the decisions in UNFCCC processes. Also, ICLEI leads the organization of LGMA pavilion under each COP, serving as a global stage to highlight the challenges, achievements, and commitments of local and subnational actors in climate action. This inclusive platform united cities, towns, regions, and various stakeholders within the LGMA Constituency, fostering collaboration to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement.

The Accelerator is at the forefront of driving East Asian cities towards carbon neutrality. By building a robust platform for knowledge exchange and cooperation, this project addresses critical climate challenges head-on. It organizes impactful knowledge exchange events and disseminates best practices, equipping cities with the tools to implement effective and sustainable carbon reduction strategies.

In a partnership with the Seoul Metropolitan Government, ICLEI East Asia is taking a proactive approach to empower Uzbek cities with low-carbon development strategies. This initiative focuses on capacity building and peer-to-peer learning to foster sustainable urban practices. It aims to actively establish a long-term cooperation platform, enhancing the climate resilience and economic vitality of participating cities through shared expertise and innovative practices.

CityFood is a flagship program of ICLEI that aims to accelerate local and regional government action toward sustainable food systems transformation. It spans a number of projects and initiatives across all of ICLEI’s Regional Offices and brings together local and regional governments as well as critical global and regional partners. Our clear mandate is leveraging the power of food for resilient futures.

Hosted by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment (BEE), the Beijing International Forum for Metropolitan Clean Air and Climate Actions has been an annual professional forum in the field of ecological environment since 2017. ICLEI East Asia has been recognized as a co-host of the Forum since 2019, providing support to their planning and preparation.

• 2019 Forum
• 2020 Forum
• 2021 Forum (CH)

Nature provides many diverse life-supporting and life-enhancing contributions to people in cities and their surrounding regions. In cities of the future, nature should ideally be fully integrated into all aspects of urban life to provide a range of inter-connected benefits.

Led by ICLEI, INTERACT-Bio is designed to improve the utilization and management of nature within fast-growing cities and the regions surrounding them. It aims to provide expanding urban communities in the Global South with nature-based solutions and associated benefits.

Find out more at interactbio.iclei.org

The climate emergency is happening right now, in our cities, towns, and regions around the world. Our global leaders are struggling to address this urgent crisis. But the daring actions of local leaders are spreading around the globe.

Created by ICLEI and the Federal City of Bonn, Daring Cities is a virtual, action-oriented forum to recognize and empower courageous urban leaders – including mayors and other decision-makers, technical staff, researchers, private sector representatives, and community organizers – to disrupt business-as-usual and shift towards business-as-possible. Daring Cities showcases and catalyzes exemplary local climate action to tackle the climate emergency, including ambitious resilience-building and climate mitigation efforts.

Find out more at daringcities.org

In response to the heightened demand from the Asia Pacific Region, ICLEI expanded the Resilient Cities congress series in 2015, bringing the event and focus to the Asia Pacific, catering the situation, challenges, and opportunities of local governments specifically in the region.

• RCAP 2017: Summary and Highlights
• RCAP 2019 sets strong stage towards climate-resilient actions

Managed by the ICLEI European Secretariat, the Sustainable Procurement Platform provides up-to-date news, case studies, events, guidance, and more on sustainable procurement from across the world.

Find out more at sustainable-procurement.org

HEAT+ is ICLEI’s multilingual online emissions inventory tool to help local governments to make informed climate action decisions and identify the most effective measures for GHG emission abatement.

Find out more at heat.iclei.org