ICLEI

ICLEI (formerly the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives, now "ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability") is an international association of local governments that have made a formal commitment to pursue sustainable development practices. More than 700 local governments, representing over 300 million people worldwide, make up ICLEI's membership.

ICLEI's top initiatives include:

• Cities for Climate Protection Campaign, ICLEI's flagship GHG benchmarking support program for local governments worldwide.
• International Training Centre, training local government leaders and officials on urban sustainability issues

» www.iclei.org

ICLEI - Climate support programs

ICLEI's top two programs in the United States are:

• Cities for Climate Protection Campaign (USA), ICLEI's flagship GHG benchmarking support program for local governments.
• Climate Resilient Cities, a new program to help local governments adapt to the changes created by global warming.

» www.iclei.org/us

U.S. Mayors for Climate Protection

The U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) portal for the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, established by Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels in February 2005 when the Kyoto Protocol went into effect without U.S. involvement. This website includes information about both the Agreement and USCM's efforts to win federal funding for local energy and climate initiatives.

» http://www.coolmayors.org

Sierra Club Cool Cities

Sierra Club's Cool Cities program supports citizens and local leaders in convincing their cities to sign on to the U.S. Mayors' Climate Protection Agreement. The program also supports cities in following up on this commitment with action plans and other energy and climate initiatives.

» www.coolcities.us

Clean Air - Cool Planet

Clean Air-Cool Planet works in the Northeastern United States to implement solutions to climate change and build constituencies for effective climate policies and actions. They:

• partner with companies, campuses, communities and science centers throughout the Northeast to help reduce their carbon emissions
• showcase practical climate solutions that demonstrate the economic opportunities and environmental benefits associated with early actions on climate change
• advocate the implementation of effective policy solutions aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions at the state and regional levels.

» cleanair-coolplanet.org

Federation of Canadian Municipalities
Centre for Sustainable Community Development

FCM's Centre for Sustainable Community Development offers two programs of particular interest to cities responding to energy and climate uncertainty:

• Partners for Climate Protection is the Canadian version of ICLEI's Cities for Climate Protection Campaign.
• The Green Municipal Fund provides not only funding but also a knowledge base and capacity building campaigns for local sustainability initiatives.

» sustainablecommunities.fcm.ca