R20 Regions of Climate Action

R20 - Regions of Climate Action
Type Non-profit environmental organization
Purpose Help sub-national governments around the world develop and communicate low-carbon and climate-resilient economic development projects.
Headquarters 48 Chemin Du Grand Montfleury, CH 1209 Versoix, Geneva, Switzerland
Location
Official language
English, French
Founder
 Arnold Schwarzenegger
Key people
 Michèle Sabban (President), Christophe Nuttall (Executive Director), Terry Tamminen (Strategic Advisor to the Founding Chair)
Website regions20.org

The R20 - Regions of Climate Action is a non-profit environmental organization founded in November 2010, by former Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, with the support of the United Nations.[1][2][3] R20 is a coalition of sub-national governments, private companies, international organizations, NGOs, and academic & financial institutions.[4] Its mission is to help sub-national governments to implement low-carbon and climate-resilient projects, as well as to share best practices in renewable energy and energy efficiency in order to build a “green economy”.[5] This NGO operates at the sub-national level as R20 believes sub-national governments constitute a powerful force for change and are best positioned to take action & implement green projects.[6] Through this bottom-up approach, successful sub-national projects will be scaled-up to national and international levels to achieve a broader, global impact.

Mission and Methodology

Founding Chair Arnold Schwarzenegger

According to its Charter, the mission of R20 is to prevent a 2°C increase in global temperatures by 2020 by reducing global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 75%.[7]

The R20 works - upon demand from the regions - as a “matchmaker” for three actors: sub-national governments, technology developers and investors.[8] Its purpose is to connect them with each other, in order to facilitate the implementation of green projects targeting: GHG emission reductions, public health improvements, job creation, and poverty reduction.[9][10] To that end, the organization works with worldwide sub-national governments, academic institutions, corporations, financial institutions, intergovernmental organizations, non-profit organizations and United Nations programmes.[11]

The R20 approaches project implementation in three-phases:[12][13]

  1. Determine the regions' needs (Regions in Action)
  2. Find the appropriate technology (Technologies in Action)
  3. Identify the investor (Finance in Action)

Governance Board

The Founding Chair of the organization is Arnold Schwarzenegger. The current President is Michèle Sabban - Vice President of Region Ile-de-France and former President of the AER (Assembly of European Regions).[14] The R20 Executive Director is Dr. Christophe Nuttall, former Director of the Hub for Innovative Partnerships at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).[15][16] The Strategic Advisor to the Founding Chair is Terry Tamminen, the CEO of the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation and the former Secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency.[17]

R20 is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. The organization also has affiliate offices in the USA (Santa Monica), Algeria (Oran), Brazil (Rio de Janeiro) and China (Beijing).

As of November 2016, R20 has 49 direct members (both national & sub-national authorities) and 134 businesses and project facilitators (academic institutions, national agencies, NGOs, private companies, UN programs and Intergovernmental organizations), and 41 investors and financial institutions.[18]

Approach

R20 is implementing a technical and financial ecosystem able to cover the whole value chain of project development, financing and implementation. Sub-national authorities around the world can benefit of this unique one stop shop to improve the sustainability of their region.

  1. Projects Identification: R20 is liaising with sub-national governments to identify potential projects.
    1. (i) Training and Capacity Building: R20 has developed a Master program and conducts workshops and other events to facilitate project development.
  2. Feasibility Studies: In order to conduct feasibility studies, R20 is developing an online helpdesk and pre-investment facilities.
  3. Financing: R20 is working on two investment funds in Private Equity, one philanthropic and one for profit.
  4. Implementation: R20 steps back and project initiators, local authorities, and appropriate technical partners implement projects.
  5. MRV: Strong Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification standard are being used by R20 to monitor its projects impact.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "R20 Contact Us". R20 Regions of Climate Action. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
  2. ↑ "R20 About Us". R20 Regions of Climate Action. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
  3. ↑ "The Global Journal". The R20, More Gas Than the G20. Retrieved 3 May 2012.
  4. ↑ "R20 About Us". R20 Regions of Climate Action. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
  5. ↑ "Régions Magazine, Special R20" (PDF). Retrieved 4 December 2012.
  6. ↑ "Régions Magazine, Special R20" (PDF). Retrieved 4 December 2012.
  7. ↑ "R20 About us". Charter. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
  8. ↑ "Programs in Action". R20 Regions of Climate Action. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
  9. ↑ "Environment News Service". Schwarzenegger Forges Global Climate Action Coalition with Regional Leaders. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
  10. ↑ "Our Work With R20". IDEAcarbon. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  11. ↑ "R20 Partners". R20 Regions of Climate Action. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
  12. ↑ "R20 Programs in Action". R20 Regions of Climate Action. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
  13. ↑ "R20 Overview" (PDF). Retrieved 4 December 2012.
  14. ↑ "R20 Governance". R20 Regions of Climate Action. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
  15. ↑ "The Global Journal". The R20, More Gas Than the G20. Retrieved 3 May 2012.
  16. ↑ "Régions Magazine, Special R20" (PDF). Retrieved 4 December 2012.
  17. ↑ "About R20". Governing Board. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
  18. ↑ December 2012 "Members and Partners" Check |url= value (help).

Further reading

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