USA Hub

One of the federal government priorities is to advance equity for all. The recent economic, health, and climate crises have broadly revealed and worsened the unequal access to opportunity and safety in the United States. The country’s extractive economy resulted in environmental and social conditions that disproportionately impact people with a low socio-economic status and people of color. The USA Hub works with cities to develop strategies to understand and remove these inequities and provide economic opportunity through skill development, local jobs, and innovations enabled by circular economy strategies.

Efforts to eliminate local greenhouse gas emissions are essential, but do not fully address the climate crisis if consumption patterns remain unchanged. From large infrastructure projects to purchasing vehicles, food, and consumer goods and services, supply chain emissions average about five times the direct emissions of the local government itself. The USA Hub addresses both local emissions as measured by ICLEI-USA’s Local Government Recycling and Composting Emissions Protocol (RCProtocol), and sustainable public procurement and broader emissions through consumption-based and supply-chain emissions accounting and management.

Cities and regions across the nation are experiencing increasingly intense droughts, fires, floods, heat waves, and more. These disruptions can reduce communities’ access to essential services, food, and water. To foster resilience, the USA Hub enables cities to conduct vulnerability assessments and build circularity into the financial, technical, economic, and social systems that impede climate adaptation.

ICLEI USA will build private sector partnerships, building on the success of its Green Business Challenge program (2009 – 2015) and collaborate with leading NGOs active with ICLEI USA in related climate resilience and climate risk projects. ICLEI’s USA Hub will provide cities and regions with opportunities to tackle the most difficult recycling challenges, including plastics.