A Global Interest in Local Renewables

A key topic at the ICLEI World Congress 2009, writes Alex Aylett on WorldChanging, is how cities can successfully integrate energy supply policies--typically a regional or national planning issue--into their local climate mitigation efforts. Helping community members acquire solar systems and initiate energy efficiency upgrades is very much a local government priority.

Aylett interviews Emani Kumar, executive director of ICLEI's operations in South Asia, to get a sense of the progress and challenges to bring local renewables to Indian cities.

In the United States, ICLEI member local governments have shown remarkable innovation around these efforts. Berkeley, Palm Desert, and Sonoma County California, along with Babylon, NY, and Cambridge, MA, have developed clean energy municipal financing initiatives that other cities are eager to replicate.

In July, ICLEI USA will kick off a three-part webinar series sharing the best practices of these leading municipalities. Join us on July 9 for a primer on Babylon's Long Island Green Homes initiative, followed by the Cambridge Energy Alliance on July 23, and BerkeleyFIRST on July 30.