ICLEI USA provided technical advisory services at the request of the Climate Smart citizen task force of Philipstown New York. ICLEI contributed to the development of a baseline estimate for "net" GHG emissions after removals. The object of the analysis was to inform the development of a Climate Action Plan to outline the policies and actions local government, community partners, and individuals could take to measurably reduce emissions and adapt to unavoidable climate change. The task force recommended that the Town adopt the analysis given that it best localizes the global emissions resulting from the community’s actions and unites efforts to promote community health, a growing local economy, environmental stewardship and other sustainability initiatives under the common banner of a collective plan to address climate change. The town set a goal of carbon neutrality by 2040 and explored opportunities to do that with and without the purchase of carbon offsets.

ICLEI's aim in the project is to maximise consumers’ and specifically procurers involvement via specific campaigns, via retailers, cities and manufacturers’ service network. ICLEI is creating awareness amongst European public and business procurement personnel (PPP) through targeted and tailormade campaigns to inform public procurement actors and their organisations. The consortium wants to empower PPP to make better, more informed decisions when it comes to the procurement of high energy efficiency products.

UNEP and ICLEI Europe are working jointly on supporting the implementation of component 2 of the project, and in particular the activities in the electronics sector. These activities aim to help governments and value chain actors in the electronics sector track and manage chemicals of concern (CoC) in their products. This work is focussed on developing global sustainable public procurement guidance enabling purchasers to ultimately reduce the use of chemicals of concern (CoC) in the electronics sector and supporting the training for adaptation of global tools and guidance to the local context of public purchasers in Colombia.

The six cities involved in the project will go through a Pre-Commercial Procurement (PCP) process. PCP is an innovation procurement tool to stimulate market innovation as it enables the public sector to steer the development of new solutions directly towards its needs. The six cities will define the needs and requirements of the energy and mobility solutions to be developed, and challenge start-ups, SMEs and companies to design innovative solutions applying the use of AI and related enabling digital technologies, such as 5G, Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing and big data applications.

ICLEI is compiling a guidance document for "Buying Social". It provides guidance for procurers on how to include socially responsible considerations in their tenders. The European Commission will publish the final guidance document. To develop the guidance ICLEI is also compiling a range of good practice examples to illustrate the guidance provided.

The goals of the European Innovation Council are:
• Putting Europe at the forefront of market-creating innovation (fundamentally different from existing markets, e.g. through a new combination of physical and digital issues, of products and services, of technologies and business models).
• Providing EU added value by focusing on innovators / companies with the potential to scale up at European and/or international level.
• Intervening where private investors are unable to get a loan (e.g. due to higher technology, market, regulatory risks associated with market creating innovation), with the aim of crowding in private investment
• Complementing existing EU innovation initiatives that focus on established markets / technologies / sectors (e.g. through public-private partnerships, development of technology roadmaps/ sectoral strategies, etc.).

ICLEI supports the EIC by connecting procurers with unmet innovation and sustainability needs with EIC companies through market engagement events.

This “Leading City Network on Green Public Procurement” project aims to build a leading city network on Green Public Procurement(GPP) among participant’ cities—including Gyeonggi-do province, Goyang City, Bucheon City, Daejeon Metropolitan City and Busan Metropolitan City.

Under this project, ICLEI Korea Office has provided several consultations to enhance the execution of GPP, offered expert lectures to improve awareness, construct a foundation for continuous exchanges and cooperation by creating a domestic network of GPP, and publicize its performance through the ICLEI global networks.

Ultimately, this project helps local governments acknowledge the necessity and significance of Green Public Procurement (GPP) in addressing climate change, and achieving regional sustainable development, and to lay the foundation for voluntary participation.

The Big Buyers Initiative presents an opportunity for public authorities to engage with other authorities across Europe and to shape new innovative solutions to their procurement needs. ICLEI and EUROCITIES are currently running the initiative on behalf of the European Commission, DG Internal Market, Industry Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW). The initiative works together with existing networks and organisations active in this area. To put these goals into action, three working groups have been established, with over 40 participating cities, which meet regularly to work on relevant procurement topics. The first group focusses on electric vehicle procurement, the second on circular construction procurement, and the third on zero emission construction vehicles. The groups meet regularly and ICLEI together with EUROCITIES provides faciliation and organises market engagement for the groups to achieve their goals.

Public buyers are supported in the identification of their needs and, once ready, connected with SMEs and start-ups able to develop innovative solutions responding to their requirements. A total of five regional procurement of innovation broker schemes will be piloted in the Upper Austria Region, Denmark, North Rhine Westfalia (Germany), Ireland and Andalusia (Spain), then scaled up to a European level. We test innovation procurement brokerage approaches at regional and European level, we support and carry out assessments of public authority needs and we engage with start-ups and SMEs across Europe to find innovative solutions to needs.

ICLEI develops procurement guidance including criteria and verfication schemes that consider social responsibility throughout the whole supply-chain of ICT products. Additionally, ICLEI is pilot testing procurement criteria with public authorities and consulting with manufacturers and suppliers of ICT through the Market Engagement series. ICLEI’s ‘Meet the Buyer’ event series brings buyers and suppliers of ICT together to discuss public procurement’s needs for fair labour conditions along ICT hardware supply chains and how suppliers can respond to this demand.