MORE MISINFORMATION on ICLEI

FROM WHATCOM COUNTY, WA! By Sandy Sanders

Posted on 23 April 2011.

http://www.varight.com/news/more-misinformation-on-iclei-from-whatcom-county-wa/

Here is a link to an extraordinary letter from Pete Kremen, the County Executive of Whatcom
County, Washington. (Whatcom is not a misprint nor is it a parody! Thanks to Paul Murphy for this
item.) It is filled with misinformation about ICLEI. Let’s set the record straight:

Whatcom County is a member of ICLEI USA, which is a separate non-profit organization from ICLEI Global.
Here are the different mission statements according to their websites:

“ICLEI USA: http://www.icleiusa.org /ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI) is a membership

association of local governments committed to advancing climate protection and sustainable development. At
ICLEI USA our mission is to build, serve, and drive a movement of local governments to advance deep
reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and achieve tangible improvements in local sustainability.”

“ICLEI GLOBAL: http://www.iclei.org /ICLEI is an international association of local governments as well as

national and regional local government organizations who have made a commitment to sustainable
development. ICLEI’s mission is to build and serve a worldwide movement of local governments to achieve
tangible improvements in global sustainability with special focus on environmental conditions through
cumulative local actions. ICLEI’s general mandate is to build an active and committed municipal
membership of local spheres of government (local and regional governments and authorities) as well as
international, regional, national and sub-national local government associations.”

Let’s go the ICLEI Global website for the answer for this:

ICLEI USA is part of an international organization that operates 13 offices on 7 continents. The ICLEI
global network works on clean energy, climate protection, biodiversity, sustainable procurement and water
issues.

ICLEI’s work is carried out through non-profit affiliate organizations nationally incorporated in the
United States, Australia, Brazil, Argentina, Canada, India, Mexico, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, the
Philippines, South Africa and Korea. ICLEI also conducts project activities through our regional offices in
P.R. China and Indonesia.

Local governments and their associations constitute ICLEI’s global membership. As a democratic,
membership-driven association, every member has a vote at council meetings where the priorities and
direction of the organization are determined. Governed by the ICLEI global charter put in place by its
founding members, our mandate is to build an active and committed membership of local governments and
their associations.(Emphasis mine!)

ICLEI USA is in effect a national subsidiary of the global corporation ICLEI. When you join ICLEI
USA, you join ICLEI global. You also violate the Constitution which prohibits confederations among
state and/or local governments.
There is more from the Whatcom County Executive:

ICLEI USA is not a United Nations agency or controlled by the U.N. in any way. It is an independent
nonprofit association.

This is technically true but the effect of what ICLEI does makes it misleading. See the ICLEI
Charter 1:2:

The Association shall maintain its formal institutional relationships with its founder patrons, the United
Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the International Union of Local Authorities (IULA), the latter
from 1 January 2004 merged into the newly established World Organization of United Cities and Local
Governments. (Section 1:2 ICLEI Charter)

What would you call an organization founded by a UN agency and a global confederation of local
governments? It quacks like a UN duck to me. ICLEI also seeks to be the agent on sustainability
and environmental issues of UCLG. ICLEI’s mission is to:

The Association’s mission shall be to build and serve a worldwide movement of local governments to
achieve tangible improvements in global sustainability with special focus on environmental conditions
through cumulative local actions (emphasis mine – ICLEI Charter 1:2).
See the ICLEI Charter 1:6:

The Association shall serve as an international representative for its members and campaign participants by
providing advocacy before national and international governments, agencies and organizations and
multilateral bodies to increase their understanding and support for local sustainable development and
environmental protection activities. (Emphasis mine)

Is this what Whatcom County residents want? (No pun intended) Either the County Executive, Mr.
Pete Kremen is deceived or he is misleading the citizens of his county. It is fair to ask him and the
elected officials of the county which one it is. The citizens of Whatcom County deserve better.
They ought to get out of ICLEI.

Elwood "Sandy" Sanders is a Hanover attorney who is an Appellate Procedure Consultant for
Lantagne Legal Printing and has written seven scholarly legal articles and was an adjunct at T. C.
Williams School of Law. (None of these titles imply any endorsement of Sanders’ views)

Elwood "Sandy" Sanders