Growing population and urbanization are increasing the relevance of cities and local governments to the problems of sustainability. Half of the world's population now lives in cities, a share that is predicted to increase to nearly 70 percent by 2050. A city such as Mumbai, India, governs more people than any of the 150 smallest United Nations member states. This intensifying urbanization will necessitate the construction, within the next 40 years, of urban capacity, buildings, energy, and infrastructure equal to all that has been built in the last 4000 years.1
Untold numbers of cities will be affected strongly by climate change, while remaining obligated to provide basic human services and secure food for their populations. Yet, at the same time, their formal powers, portfolios, and resources are relatively narrow. Even countries with explicit decentralization processes shift far more duties than opportunities to their local governments.
The emerging importance of local governance raises some critical questions:2
- Can cities, towns, counties, metropolitan areas, and other local regions govern themselves and their social and economic development in ways that maintain, save, and improve the natural resources and ecosystems that enable all government?
- Can local governments influence national and global governance toward sustainability?
- Do their actions result in global improvements?
Understanding how local governments have become a factor - maybe the key factor - with global sustainability efforts in recent years can help clarify the current discussions around climate governance, the UN's Sustainable Development Goals and the role of cities in achieving them, and urban sustainability in general.
In recent years, common concerns about environmental protection and sustainable development have driven local governments to cooperate more closely across countries. This increase in international cooperation is related in large part to local governments' involvement in the global sustainability debate. Take, for example, the recent carbon fee deal struck between the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec and the state of California. The global role of local governments dates back only two decades or so - a measure of how the world has changed.
Several globally relevant organizations such as ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability* and United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG)** are open to all interested local governments. Some groups only offer participation or membership to selected cities according to size.
The growing movement of local governments is paralleled by a similar phenomenon among regional governments, some of which have also formed global organizations based on similar visions and concerns. Local and regional governments form a strong coalition of the concerned and are in no way subordinate arms of national governments. Local governments from different countries act locally and argue globally' despite their varied political and economic systems and their often limited range of responsibilities. Global cooperation is largely free of the usual patterns of national politics, interests and approaches; almost all governments at the local level that engage in international cooperative processes do so in a relatively open-minded way and by prioritizing common goals, such as climate protection, biodiversity preservation, and sustainable resource management. The divide between industrialized and developing countries plays a smaller role among local governments than among their respective national governments.3
The reasons are straightforward. Sustainability is a common priority, and many representatives of local governments show strong commitment and leadership. The common drive to provide decent living conditions for people is more relevant than defending abstract national interests. At a recent collaborative meeting of all of the premiers of Canada's provinces and territories to discuss, among other topics, climate change and carbon tariffs, the Canadian Prime Minister and every cabinet minister refused to attend. This reinforced a very strong anti-federal government feeling of the people of Canada with respect to the government's stand and lack of commitment to mitigating climate change and global warming. These motivations at the local and/or regional level help explain why local governments often have been faster than national governments to take action on environmental initiatives. After the adoption of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1992, for example, it took local governments just eight months to convene the first Municipal Leaders' Summit on Climate Change and to launch the ICLEI Cities for Climate Protection Campaign. It took national governments 13 years to put in place the global implementation mechanism, the Kyoto Protocol. Even then, the U.S., the largest emitter of carbon dioxide at the time, failed to ratify it. Canada was nowhere to be found when it came down to committing to specific action put forth in the Kyoto Protocol and remains one of the few countries on the planet refusing to take action since.
The role of local governments in the global sustainability debate has widened over the last 20 years. Until the late 1980s, such governments did not factor significantly in global debates, nor were they seen as transnational players. The founding of ICLEI by some 200 city leaders in September 1990 in New York marked a milestone change: for the first time, elected city officials decided to build an international city organization for what we now refer to as sustainability.' ICLEI's mandate from the start was to:
- Network among environmentally concerned local governments globally
- Motivate and support local governments to (jointly) act locally in areas of global concern
- Link local action to global UN processes
In short, the creation of ICLEI was the key local government response to the emerging notion of sustainable development that dates back to 1987.4
ICLEI strongly influenced preparations for the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development, also known as the Rio Summit, by proposing wording for what became Chapter 28 of Agenda 21, the conference's key outcome document. The chapter called upon local governments worldwide to engage their communities in the development of a Local Agenda 21.' This is a participatory, multi-sectoral process to achieve goals at the local level through the preparation and implementation of a long-term, strategic action plan that addresses priority local sustainable development concerns.
I'm glad that Toronto, Canada, which is my home, is an active member of ICLEI.
*ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability is the world's leading network of over 1,000 cities, towns and metropolitan areas committed to building a sustainable future. By helping Members to make their cities and regions sustainable, low-carbon, resilient, ecomobile, biodiverse, resource-efficient and productive, healthy and happy, with a green economy and smart infrastructure, the network impacts over 20 percent of the world's urban population. www.iclei.org
**UCLG represents and defends the interests of local governments on the world stage, regardless of the size of the communities they serve. It is the united voice and world advocate of democratic self-government, promoting its values, objectives, and interests, through cooperation between local governments, and within the wider international community. www.uclg.org
1 ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI), "ICLEI Submission for Rio+20: Contribution to the Zero Draft of the Rio+20 Outcome Document," (Bonn: 31 October 2011): 1
2 Zimmermann, M. "How Local Governments Have Become a Factor in Global Sustainability" Governing for Sustainability State of the World (2014): 152
3 Ibid
4 ICLEI, "Who is ICLEI?" at www.iclei.org/iclei-global/who-is-iclei.html; Gro Bruntland et al., Our Common Future Oxford: Oxford University Press (1987):
