Government leadership is the catalyst for creating a better built environment. By embracing LEED-based policies, or establishing energy efficiency goals for public buildings, governments provide pathways for the private sector to follow.
While consensus in the COP18 negotiations has yet to be reached, most can agree that national governments cannot be solely responsible for addressing climate change. Local governments, the private sector and individuals must each play a part in supporting and growing the green economy. However, one way national governments can easily step up to the plate is to remove policy barriers for subnational actions on climate change.
Last week, the UN Secretary General’s High-Level Panel on Global Sustainability released a report of recommended outcomes for the Rio+20 conference in June. The report, Resilient People, Resilient Planet: A Future Worth Choosing, outlines both long- and short-term goals for governments, civil society and the private sector. These recommendations address all facets of resiliency, including climatic, economic and social.
Cross-posted from GreenBiz.com
UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres summed up this weekend the hope and frustration that the climate change negotiations — also known as COP 17 — uniquely embody.
Speaking this weekend to jet-lagged executives from clean energy companies, she recounted hearing an agitated delegate barking into his cell phone: “I can’t talk now. I’m at COP 71!”