SAO PAULO, June 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

- Standard approach for accounting and reporting greenhouse gas emissions will boost cities ability to access funding and implement actions

The C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group (C40) and ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability, announced today at the C40 Cities Mayors Summit in Sao Paulo that the two organizations will establish a global standard for accounting and reporting community-scale greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that can be used across multiple platforms. This common approach will help local governments to accelerate their emission reduction activities whilst meeting the needs of climate financing, national monitoring and reporting requirements. The standard will be released in time for UNFCCC COP 17 in November (Durban, South Africa).

The standard, once developed, will result in consistent, robust and comparable city inventories. It will also allow for accurate monitoring of progress against emissions targets, facilitate robust climate action planning, and provide standard guidance as local governments pursue environmental review, inventory certification and other relevant policy making processes in their day-to-day operations.

The World Bank Group - in partnership with UN-HABITAT, UNEP, OECD - supports the establishment of this international standard.

"Cities of all sizes play an important role in combating the impact of climate change. Establishing a single global standard for reporting greenhouse gas emissions will empower local governments to accelerate their actions and access funding for mitigation and adaptation projects," said C40 Chair, New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. "This will enable new efficiencies and create a level playing field for comparing emissions across cities around the world."

Learn more about the C40 Cities Mayors Summit and the ICLEI announcement (http://live.c40cities.org/storage/ICLEI_C40_announcement_press_release_6.1.11.pdf) at C40 Cities Live.

About C40 Cities

The C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group (C40) is an organization of large and engaged cities from around the world committed to implementing meaningful and sustainable climate-related actions locally that will help address climate change globally. To learn more about the work of C40 cities, please visit http://www.c40cities.org/.

About ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability

More than 1200 local governments and their associations, representing over 440 million people in 70 countries, constitute ICLEI's membership. ICLEI is a global association of local governments and municipal organizations that have made a commitment to sustainable development. As a movement, ICLEI runs the world's largest climate program of cities that links local action to national goals and internationally agreed targets. ICLEI provides information, delivers training, organizes conferences, facilitates networking and city-to-city exchanges, carries out research and pilot projects, and offers technical services and consultancy.

http://www.iclei.org

SOURCE C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group