The C40 Cities Climate Leadership
group and ICLEI, an organization
promoting local government sustainability, launched the 'community
protocol' on Monday, which they say will make it easier to generate
standardized information on how cities reduce emissions.
"Although many cities have conducted a GHG inventory and set
reduction targets, there is currently no consistent global guidance
for conducting a city-level inventory," the groups said in the
introduction of the protocol.
"The resulting inconsistent inventories cannot be easily
communicated between local, sub-national and national governments,
financing institutions and the private sector. The lack of a common
approach also prevents comparison between cities over time, and
reduces the ability of cities to demonstrate the global impact of
collective local actions," they continue.
The protocol is built on practices from previously published
standards such as the International Local Government GHG Emissions
Analysis Protocol and the International Standard for Determining
GHG Emissions for Cities - which will both be replaced by the
community protocol.
The protocol has been developed in
collaboration with the World Resources Institute and the Joint Work
Programme of Cities Alliance, which brings together the World Bank,
the UN Environment Programme and the UN Human Settlements
Programme.
"The implementation of the protocol will strengthen efforts for
measurable, reportable, verifiable local climate action," said
Konrad Otto-Zimmermann, Secretary General of Bonn-based ICLEI.
"It will enhance access of local governments to global climate
funds and help cities to raise the level of ambition of national
governments to mitigate climate change," he added.
"Measurement and reporting underpins the local action
driving C40 Cities leadership in addressing global climate change,"
says Jay Carson, C40 Executive Director. "As such, the community
protocol represents the interests, needs and challenges of C40
Cities."
This point was stressed in the recently published
West Coast Clean Economy Report
prepared by GLOBE Advisors for the Pacific Coast Collaborative.
That report confirmed the importance of cities as leaders in
preparing for and adjusting proactively to climate
change. Indeed, cities in four West Coast jurisdictions
reviewed have become "hotbeds", driving growth of the
clean economy through a variety of sustainability initiatives
and programs designed to preserve urban ecological integrity,
improve waste management, reduce energy use associated with
the built environment, limit urban sprawl, and enhance social
and economic well-being. Below are examples from each
jurisdiction.
See GLOBE-Net article "GLOBE report says west coast clean economy jobs
could hit 1.5 million by 2020"
C40 and ICLEI have partnered for a year to develop the protocol
and released a draft edition for public comment in March. More than
30 organizations commented on the draft, from cities including
Buenos Aires, Mexico City, Paris, Portland and Taipei City.
In next steps, the global partners will pilot the
community protocol in selected cities around the world, based on
expressions of interest. Pilot results and further feedback from
practitioners and experts will be reflected in the first edition of
the full community protocol to be published later this
year.
The draft Protocol is available
here