Contents

Events

Climate Cities Benchmark

The Local Governments Climate Partnership:

Cities in Germany, Japan and the USA join forces to combat climate change

Learning from each other and undertaking joint action in mitigating climate change are at the centre of the Local Governments Climate Partnership initiative.

With Germany, the USA and Japan being the causers of about 30 % of the worldwide CO2 emissions, exceptionally effective climate protection measures are required to achieve the necessary emission reductions. In this context, action on the local level is essential. The priority of the LGCP initiative is therefore to support an active exchange on local climate change policies among German cities and their twin cities in Japan and the USA.

For this purpose, a series of Events were organised. The expert workshops and the visits to the twin cities were to support the development of joint “solutions” and to mark the start of a longlasting friendship in the struggle to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The most recent event was the Expert Meeting of seven German cities with their twin cities in Chicago/USA, February 22 to 26 2010.

Climate Alliance and the Heidelberg Ifeu Institute are in charge of carrying out this research project on behalf of the German Federal Agency for the Environment. Apart from creating opportunities for twin cities to meet and exchange, they have developed a specific tool to enable efficient mutual learning: A benchmarking system for local climate action helps to evaluate the feasibility and the results as well as to reveal the most successful and efficient measures.

Further information: here

From the Local Governments Climate Partnership to the Climate Cities Benchmark

In the light of the success of the Local Governments Climate Partnership, the benchmark has been developed further. It is now available as an internet-based tool to analyse strengths and weaknesses of cities and municipalities in Germany, providing immediate support and suggestions for improvement of local climate policies. The Climate Cities Benchmark was launched in November 2009 and is already being implemented by 140 cities.

Further information:here (only in German)