ICLEI
David is the president of ICLEI, local governments for sustainability. For more on ICLEI, visit their website at www.iclei.org.
ICLEI is: A growing Association of local governments dedicated to sustainable development with worldwide presence, which has challenging positions, whose voice is heard, and which is attractive to be a member of, work for and partner with; A high-energy, flexible Movement of local governments working together in networks for performance, supported by campaigns and programs, and strategic alliances; An effective sustainability and environmental Agency demonstrating creativity and excellence both in developing cutting-edge solutions and in program design and executionICLEI's mission is to build and serve a worldwide movement of local governments to achieve tangible improvements in global sustainability with special focus on environmental conditions through cumulative local actions. ICLEI's general mandate is to build an active and committed municipal membership of local spheres of government (local and regional governments and authorities) as well as international, regional, national and sub-national local government associations.
ICLEI's story: ICLEI was conceived in 1989 when 35 local government leaders from Canada and the USA met with a leading atmospheric scientist about the depletion of the ozone layer. They pledged to establish local laws to phase out chemicals that deplete the Earth's ozone layer. Larry Agran, Mayor of Irvine, California, USA and Jeb Brugmann conceived of an agency that could coordinate local government responses to global environmental problems. Under the auspices of the Center for Innovative Diplomacy (CID), Jeb Brugmann consulted with local government officials from more than 20 countries to measure support. The concept was endorsed by the former International Union of Local Authorities (IULA) and an agreement was endorsed with the UN Environment Programme to host the founding congress. More than 200 local governments from 43 countries participated in the World Congress on September 5-9, 1990 at the UN headquarters in New York. The four-day proceedings concluded with the adoption of the Charter and the appointment of an interim Executive Committee. Sir John Chatfield was elected to serve as the first ICLEI Chair and Jeb Brugmann, as ICLEI's first Secretary General. ICLEI's operations began in March 1991. Toronto, Canada, was selected as the location for the ICLEI World Secretariat and Freiburg, Germany, as the host for the ICLEI European Secretariat. In 2003, ICLEI's Members voted to revise the organization's mission, charter and name to better reflect the current challenges local governments are facing. The International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives became ICLEI—Local Governments for Sustainability with a broader mandate to address sustainability issues.
