About the Global Advocacy team

ICLEI aims to build a global policy environment that supports local and regional governments in their efforts to scale up sustainable urban development worldwide – acting as the voice for subnational governments. Local and regional government are mMembers of the ICLEI network and are an integral part of our global advocacy. They Our Members engage with and also represent ICLEI in intergovernmental processes and national dialogues that form the basis for implementing the global sustainable development agenda.

At the UNFCCC, ICLEI acts as the focal point of the Local Governments and Municipal Authorities  (LGMA) constituency. Through our advocacy, we are reshaping the global sustainability landscape to ensure local and regional governments are recognized, engaged and resourced, and demonstrate their crucial role in translating global policy into action.

ICLEI is the only subnational government network accredited as an observer of all three cornerstone international agreements coming out of the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro: the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the UN Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) and the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). We are there to ensure the needs, interests and priorities of local and regional governments are represented and taken up in official decisions. 

We build relationships with intergovernmental organizations, holding partnership agreements with a number of intergovernmental bodies, including UN Environment, UN-Habitat and the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR). As a member of the Global Taskforce of Local and Regional Governments and founding partner of the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy (GCoM), ICLEI is active in building and shaping global coalitions that position local and regional governments as highly visible and influential actors in global fora and processes.