ICLEI provides technical guidance by participating in GCoM’s technical working groups, which address mitigation and adaptation in specific data-related sub-groups, including Emissions and Targets; Climate Action Planning; Resilience; and Access to Energy. ICLEI also participates in non-data related groups, including Access to Finance; Governance and Regional Coherence; Research; and Communications.

ICLEI has a representative in each group and sub-group, submits written comments and attends calls and in-person meetings. The goal is to unify and centralize how data are reported, using which channels, and how is it communicated to global stakeholders. ICLEI also provides data revision towards GCoM requirements for ICLEI Members and network of cities.

By participating in GCoM, Korean local governments can make their climate actions more ambitious and consistent through reporting and learn from their peers about ambitious climate actions.In order to support Korean local government participation in GCoM, ICLEI organizes GCoM sessions at international climate events such as Seoul Mayors Forum, supports local governments’ reporting to ICLEI-CDP unified reporting system, translates guidance and materials (e.g. Common Reporting Framework, CDP reporting guidance), invites local governments to various networking opportunities on urban climate action, publicizes their activities related to GCoM initiative and outreachs to cities of potential interest with Korean promotional materials.

The Forum diverse and engaging activities included the involvement of numerous organizations, institutions and academia; including the ICLEI Kaohsiung Capacity Center as one of organizers.

The implementation of corporate sustainability initiatives is the main activities that are now expected from the international business community, not only for their own sustainable thrive but for the world’s common interests. To bridge the gap and open the dialogue between public and private sectors on sustainability in Asian region, ICLEI KCC will host a parallel session on Cities Initiatives during the opening day of Global Corporate Sustainability Forum, in cooperation with the Organizer, Taiwan Institute for Sustainable Energy (TAISE), ICLEI Member Cities in Taiwan and other local partners.

3 of ALP Steering Committee Members from the Philippines, Mongolia(Ulaanbaatar) are invited to speak at the Forum and joined ALP-member track, including official calls on national authorities related to energy regulations and policies, technical visits to e-mobility in postal services, smart energy communities in New Taipei City and circular economic development in Taoyuan City.

In 2010, ICLEI USA created the protocols by which U.S. local governments account for emissions at both the community and municipal scale and in 2013, developed ClearPath, an emissions inventory and management software application, which is the manifestation of these protocols. In combination, these activities have reduced the financial and administrative burden to measure and manage GHG emissions. 900 U.S. local governments have established ClearPath accounts. ICLEI USA technical advisors support users who developed 336 community inventories and 196 municipal inventories in 2019. Occasionally, local governments outsource the inventory development to ICLEI USA. In 2019, ICLEI USA developed inventories for: Manhattan Beach, San Jose and Carson California; Boulder, Lakewood and Northglenn Colorado; Boca Raton, Oakland Park, and Pinecrest Florida; Beacon, New York; Beaverton Oregon; Denton and Plano Texas; and King County, Washington.

ICLEI participated in the development of the current version of the GPC as part of a multi-institutional cooperation along with The World Bank; UN Habitat; WRI and C40 and promoted the use and application of this protocol through its programs and related projects. Currently ICLEI participates in the further iteration of the GPC along with C40 and WRI which will allow complete integration with the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy – Common Reporting Framework.

This will allow vertical (Multi-level) and horizontal integration of data for reporting entities reducing the effort to report in several standards of frameworks.

Local governments are key actors when it comes to tackling climate change. Reducing GHG emissions at the local level should be managed and monitored using well-structured mechanisms. In South Korea, the Korea Environment Corporation (KeCO) supports Korean Local governments to calculate their GHG inventories. It has developed a tool based on the IPCC 2016 Guidelines, and it provides technical capacity for developing local GHG inventories. At the global level ICLEI, WRI and C40 developed the Global Protocol for Community-scale GHG inventories (GPC), now embedded in the GCoM Data Standard. This is the recommended approach for all local governments. Yet not all tools used by local governments are aligned to this new global approach. By aligning KeCO’s tool with the GPC, local governments in Korea can benefit in terms of cost and time when reporting their inventory together with their reduction target and action plan – connecting tem to the global developments. ICLEI coordinates the alignment process and the application process to obtain for the KeCO GHG tool an official stamp of approval, confirming the tool is confrm to the GPC, as part of the WRI GHG Protocol. This will enable Korean local governments to report their GG inventoriues using the KeCo tool, thereby receiving confirmation that they are using the Gcom Data Standard of global reporting.

ICLEI's first role is in the innovation management task to ensure that the project is aligned with the development of the state of the art technologies and the market possibilities. In this task, alongside with the Innovation Manager, we monitor internal and external activities, market developments and European policy with respect to t e-mobility, that is relevant to the project.

The second main task is to coordinate the task that involves the Uptake Cities Group. We have established a group of 10 cities that have expressed their interest in the project. Each city will develop a roadmap on the construction, configuration and location of charging infrastructures designed to promote the use of electric or hybrid rechargeable vehicles, and for the integration of these roadmaps in their respective SUMPs. Study visits to 3 pilots sites and 5 webinars are envisaged for the cities involvement.

ICLEI has also a communication/dissemination role. Finally, we are organising a 150 participant conference in the final year of the project.

ICLEI is the lead author, supported by groups of city and carbon accounting experts from various fields, in the development of industry standards for local government GHG emissions accounting in the US. The development of the U.S. Community Protocol, the Local Government Operations Protocol, and the Recycling and Composting Protocol positioned ICLEI as exclusive experts in local government carbon accounting. Recognizing this expertise, ICLEI was asked to contribute to the development of the Global Protocol for Community Scale GHG emissions (GPC) and is currently working on an update to the U.S. Community Protocol to better account for forestry and land use changes. ICLEI continues to provide technical guidance for the application of the protocols to cities and practitioners around the world.

Through GrowSmarter ICLEI worked to develop a comprehensive understanding and guide for the replication of smart and sustainable urban solutions. ICLEI also led the communications work of GrowSmarter and has shared the good examples provided by the project.
ICLEI’s work on the replication of smart solutions concluded with the report ‘ROAD TO REPLICATION – GUIDING CITIES ON SMART URBAN DEVELOPMENT’ for stakeholders interested in replicating different smart measures in the future. It provides insights about the importance of integrating Smart City strategies into the core of sustainable energy and climate action planning processes as well as sustainable urban developments. Some of the key aspects that could facilitate replication further include the definition of diverse and cross-sector governance structures that ensure smart technologies to serve as enablers for sustainable urban transformation. It is also important for cities to evaluate the replication potential of smart measures in their urban context, following systematic approaches and management cycles, which mainstream smart and sustainable action.
Other key aspects identified include amongst others the involvement of stakeholders in early stages of planning, the development of internal capacity building processes, the adoption of innovative ways to initiate projects, and the transparent communication to citizens about the goals and measures implemented.

A group of students from Northeastern University has been studying Fortaleza’s current Climate Action Plan, its actions and goals, and how far they have advanced. They have also been studying American projects, policies and initiatives, in order to be able to explore how policies, technologies, and cultural differences in various countries have helped grow and implement sustainable efforts and to make comparisons between sustainable energy technologies and policies in US and Brazil, and Boston and Fortaleza. The Lab’s products will be a written proposal and a one page executive summary to the mayor summarizing suggestions and appointments, and an oral presentation.