Issue No. 2: Susanne Salz, ICLEI: Models for Local Government Organisations (LGOs) involvement in a strengthened UNEP

Rio+20 in June 2012 provides the rare opportunity to address sustainable development issues in a unique global setting. In order to address the complex, severe and interconnected challenges that the world is facing, all actors must work together. This paper makes concrete proposals how to involve Local Government Organizations (LGOs) in a strengthened UNEP. LGOs have significant power in environmental matters and thus can help to implement global agreements, shape policy, and ultimately contribute to safeguarding global common goods. Each Local Government can only act locally, but when united and working together through global LGOs, the accumulated impact is significant and should be harnessed by the UN and its members states by meaningfully involving LGOs in a strengthened UNEP. A summary of the proposals made in this paper can be found in the conclusion.